LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 


PLATE  i  NESTS  OF  MASON-WASP.  Frontispiece 

Odynerus  tunnels  into  banks  and  provisions  her  cells  with  caterpillars.     Whilst  the 
work  is  in  progress  she  constructs  curved  tubes  of  the  excavated  material  to  keep 
out  the  ruby-tailed  wasp,  which  is  a  parasite.     (See  p.  7z.) 

Drawn  by  T.  Can  eras. 


INSECT  ARTIZANS 
AND  THEIR  WORK 


BY 

EDWARD  STEP,  F.L.S. 

AUTHOR  OF  "WAYSIDE  AND  WOODLAND  BLOSSOMS,"   "MESSMATES,"  ETC,,   ETC. 


With  &4  Illustrations  on  Art  Paper 


NEW  YORK 
DODD,   MEAD  AND  COMPANY 


PRINTED   IN   GREAT   BRITAIN 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION  .....        ix 

CHAPTER 

I.  SPINNERS  AND  WEAVERS                                  i 

II.  MINERS   .         .         .•                 .                19 

III.  MASONS .65 

IV.  CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD-WORKERS        .       95 
V.    UPHOLSTERERS 125 

VI.  WAX- WORKERS  .  .          .          .  137 

VII.  PAPER-MAKERS  .  .  .  159 

III.  TAILORS  .         .  .         .         .  179 

IX.  HORTICULTURISTS  ....     209 

X.  SANITARY  OFFICERS  ....     229 

XL  MUSICIANS        .  .         .         .         .251 

XII.  BURGLARS         .....     277 

.  LAMP-BEARERS  .         .          .'        .301 

INDEX 313 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PLATE 

1.  NESTS  OF  MASON-WASP   .          .         .          Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

2.  COCOONS  OF  A  SILK-MOTH         .         .         .         .10 

3.  MIXERS  OF  SILK  AND  WOOD-FIBRE  .          .         .11 

4.  SILKEN  COCOONS     ......       14 

5.  SOME  SCARABS         ......       15 

6.  MINERS  ........       54 

7.  NESTS  OF  A  MASON-WASP         ....       55 

8.  YELLOW-FOOTED  MUD-DAUBER  AND  ITS  NEST  .       76 

9.  MUD-DAUBERS          ......       77 

10.  NESTS  OF  TERMITES  OR  "  WHITE  ANTS  "  .       86 

11.  TERMITES  OR  "WHITE  ANTS"          ...       87 

12.  NESTS  OF  CARPENTER-BEE        ....       98 

13.  MINES  OF  ELM-BORING  BEETLES       .         .         .99 

14.  BORINGS  OF  A  BEETLE  GRUB  .         .         .         .118 

15.  THE  TIMBERMAN     .         .         .         .         .         .119 

1 6.  A  TIMBER  BEETLE — TRACK  OF  A  DESTROYER  .     122 

17.  HORN-TAILED  WASPS       .         .         .         .         .123 

1 8.  THE  LEAF-CUTTER  BEE   .         .         .         .         .132 

19.  A  HUGE  HONEYCOMB  AND  ITS  MAKER     .         .     133 


vii 


viii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PLATE  FACING  PACK 

20.  HONEY-BEES  COMB-BUILDING   ....     146 

21.  HUMBLE-BEES'  NEST        ..... 

22.  THE  RAW  MATERIAL  OF  WASP-PAPER 

23.  COMB  OF  WASP       ...... 

24.  STRANGE  PORTABLE  HOUSES    .... 

25.  Two  TAILORS  ...... 

26.  CADDIS-FLY  AND  CADDIS-CASES 

27.  THE  AGRICULTURAL  ANT'S  CLEARING 
•28.  NEST  OF  THE  AGRICULTURAL  ANT    . 

29.  MUSHROOM-GROWING  ANTS       .... 

30.  TERMITES'  MUSHROOM  GARDEN 

31.  SEXTONS          ....... 

32.  THE  BACON  BEETLE         ..... 

33.  BEE-LIKE  DRONE-FLY — GIRDLED  DRONE-FLY     . 

34.  THE  CICADA'S  MUSIC-BOX         .... 

35.  GREAT  GREEN  GRASSHOPPER    .... 

36.  THE  FLYING  GOOSEBERRY        .... 

37.  A  KATYDID    ....... 

38.  Two  ICHNEUMON-WASPS  .         .         . 

39.  THE  OIL-BEETLE  AND  THE  SITARIS  . 


INTRODUCTION 

No  one  who  has  devoted  any  considerable  part  of 
his  open-air  leisure  to  the  observation  of  living 
insects  can  fail  to  be  struck  by  the  fact  that  each 
species  has  its  own  definite  method  of  life,  its  own 
way  of  doing  things,  and,  in  the  construction  of  a 
shelter  for  itself  or  its  progeny,  its  own  preference 
for  materials  and  its  own  mode  of  using  them. 
These  are  the  methods  and  preferences  not  of  the 
individual,  but  of  the  species  ;  and  the  individual 
needs  no  apprenticeship,  but  goes  directly  to  work 
with  the  experience  it  has  inherited  from  an  enorm- 
ously long  line  of  ancestors.  In  an  earlier  period  of 
our  civilization  the  son  followed  the  vocation  of 
his  father,  taught  by  him,  and  inheriting  the 
secrets  of  the  craft.  Many  of  our  surviving  sur- 
names are  due  to  this  fact,  the  names  of  Smith, 
Taylor,  Fletcher,  Bowyer,  and  the  like  becoming 
permanently  attached  to  the  families  pursuing  these 
crafts  and  mysteries.  In  the  case  of  the  Insects, 
the  parents  cannot  instruct  their  offspring,  for  as 
a  rule  they  never  see  them.  One  marvels  at  the 
skill  displayed  by  the  bird  in  constructing  its  first 
nest ;  but  it  may  be  said  that  the  newly  mature 
bird  has  at  least  a  chance  of  watching  a  second- 
year  matron  of  its  kind  building,  and  getting  some 
hints  that  way.  In  the  case  of  the  Insects  there  is, 
as  a  rule,  no  possibility  of  such  help.  In  the  vast 


IX 


x  INTRODUCTION 

majority  of  species  the  parent  is  dead  long  before 
the  daughter  comes  to  that  stage  of  existence  when 
the  necessity  for  making  provision  for  her  progeny 
arises ;  so  the  knowledge  has  to  pass  by  way  of 
transmitted  memory.  Somewhere  in  the  minute 
speck  of  protoplasm  constituting  the  egg  of  one  of 
the  Solitary  Bees,  there  is  an  infinitesimal  particle 
of  nerve  matter  which  contains  the  secret  of  how 
to  cut  accurate  circles  and  ovals  of  rose-leaf  so  that 
a  number  of  them  will  overlap  and  curve  into  a 
perfect  cylinder.  During  the  greater  part  of  its 
life  the  creature  that  hatches  out  from  that  egg 
will  have  no  need  of  the  secret,  but  the  germ  of  it 
will  go  on  developing,  and  when  the  insect  has 
attained  to  the  complete  bee  form  there  is  the  idea 
in  the  memory  cells  ready  to  instruct  the  nerves 
that  govern  the  action  of  wings  and  legs  and  cutting 
jaws. 

Here  is  a  marvel  which  should  make  us  keen  to 
follow  with  interest  the  industries  of  these  little 
creatures.  It  is  only  one  example  of  the  thousands 
of  marvels  that  reward  the  inquirer  into  Insect 
Economics.  With  a  view  to  awakening  an  interest 
in  these  matters,  the  following  pages  have  been 
written;  and  the  better  to  attract  the  attention 
of  those  to  whom  a  more  systematic  treatment 
would  be  considered  dry  and  uninteresting,  the 
examples  chosen  have  been  grouped  under  headings 
borrowed  from  the  human  industries  that  most 
nearly  correspond  to  the  activities  of  these  Insect 
Artizans. 


I 

SPINNERS  AND  WEAVERS 


SPINNERS  AND  WEAVERS 

FROM  very  early  times  man  has  been  acquainted 
with,  and  has  made  use  of,  the  spinning  powers  of 
insects.  The  Silkworm,  that  came  originally  from 
China  or  India,  has  been  the  principal  source  of 
the  finest  raiment  with  which  the  human  species 
has  clothed  itself,  but  the  faculty  of  producing  silk 
is  shared  by  many  insects  in  a  minor  degree.  In 
most  of  them  it  is  utilized  in  the  final  stage  of  the 
grub  state  to  make  provision  for  the  security  of 
the  chrysalis,  but  many  caterpillars  possess  it  already 
when  newly  issued  from  the  egg.  As  an  example 
of  this  we  may  cite  the  case  of  the  young  caterpillar 
of  the  Puss  Moth  (Dicranura  vinula),  which  feeds 
upon  the  upper  surface  of  the  leaves  of  sallow, 
willow,  and  poplar.  The  last  named  are  not  only 
glossy,  affording  an  insecure  foothold,  but  are  kept 
in  a  state  of  constant  fluttering  by  the  slightest 
movements  of  the  air.  The  tiny  caterpillars,  looking 
like  smuts  that  have  clung  to  the  leaf,  and  that 
might  be  detached  by  a  breath,  at  once  set  to  work 
to  spin  a  little  pad  of  silk  on  the  leaf,  in  which  the 
hooks  of  their  feet  may  catch  and  so  enable  the 


4    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

animated  particle  to  feed  in  safety,  no  matter  how 
violent  the  jerking  of  the  leaf  from  side  to  side. 

Another  simple,  but  highly  useful,  example  o 
the  spinning  power  is  exhibited  by  leaf-rolling 
caterpillars  (Tortrix)  and  the  elongated  caterpillars 
known  as  Geometers  from  their  peculiar  manner 
of  progression,  in  which  they  appear  to  be  care- 
fully measuring  the  distance  traversed.  Som< 
caterpillars  of  these  two  families,  when  the  bough 
upon  which  they  are  feeding  is  rudely  jerked,  a1 
once  loose  their  hold  and  simultaneously  spin  a 
single  thread  by  which  they  hang  suspended  in 
mid-air  until  the  supposed  danger  has  passed,  when 
they  ascend  the  thread  and  regain  their  former 
station. 

These  same  leaf-rollers  depend  largely  upon  their 
power  of  spinning  threads  for  the  skill  with  which 
they  accomplish  the  neat  leafy  tube  which  is  at  once 
a  house  and  a  dining-table.  If  we  walk,  in  May 
or  June,  through  an  oak  wood,  we  shall  see  a  number 
of  these  caterpillars  hanging  by  silken  threads 
which  are  only  made  visible  to  our  sight  by  their 
reflecting  the  sun's  rays.  Tracing  one  of  these 
gleaming  threads  upward,  we  shall  see  that  it 
depends  from  the  open  end  of  an  oak  leaf  that  ha 
been  rolled  into  a  tube,  and  if  we  wait  a  few  minute 
we  shall  see  the  wriggling  larva  after  climbing  up 
by  its  thread  disappear  into  the  green  tunnel 
Plucking  a  rolled  leaf,  we  find  that  the  coils  arc 
held  in  position  by  a  great  number  of  threads  which 
stretch  like  tent-ropes  from  the  curved  to  the 


SPINNERS  AND  WEAVERS  5 

flat  portions  of  the  leaf.  By  pressing  upon  these 
threads  with  the  weight  of  its  small  body,  the 
caterpillar  gives  a  further  turn  to  the  coil,  and 
prevents  its  springing  back  by  attaching  a  short 
new  thread  at  an  angle  between  the  old  thread 
and  the  leaf.  Other  threads  are  attached  farther 
up  the  coil  and  farther  out  on  the  leaf,  and  these 
are  shortened  and  tightened  in  a  similar  manner, 
until  the  little  Green  Tortrix  larva  has  rolled  up 
sufficient  of  the  leaf  for  its  purpose. 

If  the  young  leaf  has  so  far  hardened  that  the 
midrib  has  too  much  spring  in  it,  the  caterpillar 
overcomes  this  tendency  by  reducing  its  thickness 
and  its  resistance  with  its  jaws.  In  this  tube  the 
caterpillar  lives,  feeding  upon  the  inner  folds  of  its 
house,  and  when  it  has  attained  to  its  full  develop- 
ment, as  a  larva,  spins  a  slight  cocoon  and  changes 
into  the  chrysalis  condition,  from  which  a  little 
later  it  emerges  as  the  beautiful  little  moth  with 
pale  green  wings  known  as  the  Oak  Tortrix  (Tortrix 
viridana).  This  is  the  insect  that  in  some  years 
almost  entirely  defoliates  our  oaks  before  mid- 
summer, though  apparently  without  inflicting  any 
serious  damage  to  the  tree,  which  is  soon  well 
clothed  again. 

Similar  rolled  leaves  may  be  found  upon  many 
trees,  the  work  of  other  species  of  Tortrix,  which 
pursue  their  industry  upon  similar  lines  by  the 
use  of  the  simple  silken  thread.  In  some  cases, 
however,  the  same  end  is  attained  in  a  more 
simple  manner — the  edges  of  the  leaf  being  spun 


6    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

together  before  they  expand,  so  that  the  result 
is  a  flat  bag.  Everybody  who  has  grown  rose- 
trees  is  familiar  with  examples  of  this  use  of  the 
silk  thread ;  another  common  species  treats  the 
apple-leaf  in  similar  fashion,  and  in  other  cases 
several  leaves  are  spun  together  with  the  same 
object  in  view — the  hiding  of  the  destructive 
caterpillar  until  it  has  developed  into  a  moth. 

A  most  remarkable  example  of  an  insect  that 
cannot  make  silk  using  another  that  can  for  its 
ends  is  afforded  by  an  Asiatic  ant  (CEcophylla 
smaragdina).  This  ant  haunts  the  foliage  of  trees, 
and  is  desirous  of  having  shelters  among  the  leaves ; 
but  as  it  is  not  a  spinning  ant  (there  are  such),  it 
has  brought  what  looks  like  intelligence  to  its  aid, 
and  got  its  desires  satisfied  partly  by  proxy.  Ant- 
larvae  have  the  power  of  spinning  silk  which  is 
necessary  for  the  construction  of  the  cocoons  in 
which  they  pass  the  chrysalis  stage  of  their  life- 
history.  A  party  of  ants  hold  together  the  edges 
of  leaves  which  they  have  decided  are  to  form  the 
shelter,  and  whilst  they  are  so  held  other  ants 
come  up  from  the  nest,  each  with  an  ant-larva  in 
its  mouth.  The  desire  of  its  adult  relations  is  by 
some  means  conveyed  to  it,  and  it  produces  a 
sufficiency  of  fluid  silk  to  connect  the  edges  of  the 
leaves  together. 

Several  Indian  species  of  ants  (Polyrhachis)  build 
their  nests  on  the  upper  side  of  leaves,  or  between 
two  leaves.  These  consist  of  a  single  cell,  and 
those  that  are  fully  exposed  on  the  surface  of  the 


SPINNERS  AND  WEAVERS  7 

leaf  are  covered  with  fragments  of  leaves  and 
other  vegetable  matter  to  make  it  less  obtrusive. 
But  the  point  to  which  we  desire  to  call  attention 
is  that  the  ant  lines  these  nests  with  silk  of  its 
own  manufacture,  and  of  a  texture  similar  to  spiders' 
web. 

The  chief  spinners,  however,  are  the  caterpillars 
of  the  butterflies  and  moths,  especially  of  the 
moths.  As  a  rule  the  spinning  of  butterfly  cater- 
pillars is  restricted  to  the  fabrication  of  a  silken  pad, 
into  which  the  terminal  hooks  of  the  chrysalis 
become  attached,  and  of  a  girdle  around  what  we 
may  term  the  waist  of  the  chrysalis.  There  are 
exceptions,  as  we  shall  show.  The  fluid  silk  is 
produced  by  two  large  glands,  one  on  each  side  of 
the  body,  whose  ducts  unite  and  are  continued 
externally  as  the  spinneret,  which  is  a  point  on  the 
middle  line  of  the  lip,  differently  developed  in  the 
various  families  and  species.  The  glands  are  of 
simple  structure,  and  vary  in  size  according  to  the 
amount  of  silk-production  required  by  the  species. 
In  some  of  the  moth-caterpillars  that  elaborate 
thick  cocoons  their  length  and  weight  are  con- 
siderable :  the  Silkworm,  for  instance,  possesses  a 
pair  of  silk-glands  (sericteria)  each  measuring  five 
times  the  full  length  of  the  body. 

This  length  is  exceeded  in  some  other  species.  In 
the  full-grown  Silkworm  their  weight  equals  two- 
fifths  of  the  insect's  total  weight.  This  is  not  sur- 
prising when  one  considers  the  great  length  of  thread 
that  is  produced  in  the  weaving  of  the  cocoon. 


8    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

The  average  length  of  silk  wound  off  from  a  single 
cocoon  is  1,526  feet;  but  there  is  a  difference 
between  the  produce  from  a  cocoon  containing 
female  chrysalis  and  one  containing  a  male  sufficient 
to  enable  the  silk-farmers  to  sort  out  the  sexes  by 
the  weight  of  the  cocoons.  In  agreement  with  thi 
result  it  is  found  that  a  Silkworm  that  is  to  develo] 
into  a  female  moth  has  larger  silk-glands  than  one 
that  is  to  become  a  male  moth. 

The  history  of  the  domestication  of  the  Silk 
worm,  like  that  of  the  Honey-bee,  extends  so  fa 
back  that  its  beginnings  are  hidden  in  the  mist 
of  antiquity.     Silk  is  known  to  have  been  in  genera 
use  among  the  Chinese  at  a  period  compared  wit] 
which  the  introduction  of  the  insect  to  Europ 
may  be  spoken  of  as  recent.     Silk  tissue  reachec 
Europe   from   Asia   long   before    anything   certaii 
was  known  here  as  to  its  origin,  "  some  supposing 
it  to  be  the  entrails  of  a  spider-like  insect  wit 
eight  legs,  which  was  fed  for  four  years  upon  a 
kind  of  paste,  and  then  with  the  leaves  of  the  green 
willow,  until  it  burst  with  fat ;    others  that  it  was 
the  produce  of  a  worm  which  built  clay  nests  and 
collected  wax ;    Aristotle,  with  more  truth,   that 
it  was  unwound  from  the  pupa  of  a  large  horned 
caterpillar. 

"  Nor  was  the  mode  of  producing  and  manu- 
facturing this  precious  material  known  to  Europe 
until  long  after  the  Christian  era,  being  first 
learnt  about  the  year  550,  by  two  monks,  who 
procured  in  India  the  eggs  of  the  Silkworm  moth, 


SPINNERS  AND  WEAVERS  9 

with  which,  concealing  them  in  hollow  canes, 
they  hastened  to  Constantinople,  where  they 
speedily  multiplied,  and  were  subsequently  intro- 
duced into  Italy,  of  which  country  silk  was  long  a 
peculiar  and  staple  commodity.  It  was  not  culti- 
vated in  France  until  the  time  of  Henry  IV,  who, 
considering  that  mulberries  grew  in  his  kingdom 
as  well  as  in  Italy,  resolved,  in  opposition  to  the 
opinion  of  Sully,  to  attempt  introducing  it,  and 
fully  succeeded  "  (Kirby  and  Spence). 

There  are  several  silk-producing  moths  of  larger 
size  of  which  great  hopes  in  a  commercial  sense 
have  been  held,  but,  with  the  exception  of  certain 
Indian  species  which  supply  the  Tussore  silk  and 
Eri  or  Arindy  silk,  the  results  have  been  somewhat 
disappointing.  These  big  silkworms  belong  to  a 
family  different  from  that  which  includes  the 
Silkworm.  They  are  more  closely  related  to  our 
own  Emperor  Moth  (Saturnia  car  pint),  whose 
beautiful  green-and-pink  caterpillar  spins  an  ela- 
borate cocoon  that  has  long  been  famous  among 
insect  structures.  The  upper  part  of  this  cocoon 
is  so  contrived  by  the  untaught  caterpillar  that  its 
exit  when  it  becomes  a  moth  will  be  easy,  whilst 
entry  on  the  part  of  any  intruder  will  be  the  reverse. 
At  this  upper  part  the  cocoon  is  not  closed,  but 
tapers  to  a  point  formed  by  straight  silken  hairs  con- 
verging. These  may  be  pushed  against  from  outside 
without  yielding,  but  very  slight  pressure  from 
within  will  serve  to  separate  them  and  reveal  the 
opening.  At  a  little  distance  inside  this  structure 


io    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

is  repeated,  so  that  the  chrysalis  reposes  behind 
two  puzzle-doors  which  oppose  no  obstruction  to 
the  moth. 

In  a  North  American  species  of  Silkworm  (Platy- 
samia  cecropia)  this  type  of  cocoon  is  improved 
upon.  There  are  in  fact  two  cocoons,  one  inside 
the  other,  with  a  packing  of  loosely  spun  threads 
between  the  two  walls,  which  keeps  the  inner  cocoon 
in  place,  and  must  protect  the  contained  chrysalis 
from  great  changes  of  temperature.  But  this 
arrangement,  though  admirable  for  the  chrysalis 
and  the  moth,  is  not  appreciated  by  those  who 
would  convert  its  filaments  into  woven  tissues. 
The  open  upper  end  of  the  cocoon  makes  it  a 
difficult  matter  to  unwind  the  silk,  and  so  it  does 
not  appear  to  have  a  high  commercial  value,  though 
it  is  said  to  have  been  successfully  woven  into 
stockings.  As  the  cocoon  is  three  inches  or  more 
in  length  and  nearly  an  inch  and  a  half  broad,  one 
would  expect  that  the  extra  quantity  of  silk  would 
make  up  for  this  defect.  In  California,  however, 
a  smaller  species  of  the  same  family  is  reared  for 
the  sake  of  its  silk  much  as  the  Silkworm  of  the 
Old  World  is. 

The  Cecropia  Moth,  as  may  be  supposed  from 
the  dimensions  of  its  cocoon,  is  a  large  insect.  When 
the  moth  spreads  its  beautifully  ornamented  wings, 
the  distance  between  the  tips  of  the  forewings  is 
about  six  inches ;  and  the  caterpillar  that  spins 
the  big  cocoon  is  four  inches  long  and  nearly  an 
inch  in  thickness.  It  is  gloriously  coloured  with  a 


PLATE  2 


COCOONS  OF  A  SILK-MOTH. 


Page  10 


Three  cocoons  of  the  Cecropia-moth,  theJowest  example  cut  open  to  show  structure 

and  chrysalis.      It  will  be  seen  that  there  are  really  two  cocoons  of  firm  texture 

with  an  intermediate  packing  of  looser  silk.     The-  provisiorrfor  easy 'exit- of  the 

moth  is  also  evident. 

Photo  by  Author. 


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fl  '3 
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§.§ 

h/)    P^ 


SPINNERS  AND  WEAVERS  11 

beautiful  green  shaded  with  blue,  and  from  each  of 
the  rings  or  segments  of  its  body  there  stand  out 
five  stout  fleshy  spines  of  red,  blue,  and  yellow, 
some  of  them  knobbed,  and  the  knobs  supporting 
sharp  black  bristles. 

There  are  several  other  large  moths,  both  in 
America  and  India,  that  produce  large  silk  cocoons 
of  varying  texture.  In  that  of  the  Cecropia  Moth 
the  outer  portion  is  so  closely  woven  and  the 
interstices  filled  in  with  liquid  silk  that  it  is  as 
tough  and  firm  as  vellum ;  the  inner  cocoon  is  of 
similar  consistence,  though  thinner.  An  Indian 
species  is  described  as  having  the  cocoon  of  leather- 
like  consistence,  and  Colonel  Sykes  says  it  is  cut 
into  strips  by  the  Mahrattas  and  used  as  thongs 
j;  to  bind  the  barrel  and  stock  of  their  guns  together. 
Some  of  the  insects  that  have  to  make  their  way 
through  such  resisting  cocoons  when  they  reach 
maturity  are  helped  by  the  chrysalis  having  a  sharp 
spine  in  front  of  the  head,  with  which  the  more 
solid  envelope  may  be  pierced.  In  others  the 
emerging  moth  discharges  an  alkaline  fluid  which 
dissolves  the  silk  at  the  top  of  the  cocoon  and 
allows  the  insect  to  break  through. 

Our  native  Puss  Moth  (Dicranura  vinula)  resorts 

f  to  this  method  of  getting  free  from  the  strong  box 

\  in  which  the  remarkable  caterpillar  immured  itself. 

To  make  this  cocoon  the  Puss  caterpillar  gnaws  a 

depression  or  enlarges  a  crevice  in  the  bark  of  a 

tree,  and  builds  over  itself  a  skeleton  dome  of  silken 

net.     All  over  the  surface  of  this  net  it  attaches  the 


12    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

fragments  of  rasped  bark  and  cements  the  whole 
with  a  plentiful  supply  of  liquid  silk  which  sets 
very  hard.  If  one  of  these  caterpillars  is  put  into 
a  glass  vessel,  so  that  there  is  nothing  it  can  gnaw 
for  this  purpose,  the  resulting  cocoon  will  be 
transparent  and  glass-like. 

A  section  cut  from  one  of  these  cocoons  is  not 
to  be  distinguished — even  with  the  aid  of  a  pocket 
lens — from  actual  bark.  It  may  therefore  be  ques- 
tioned whether  it  should  be  included  among 
spinners  and  weavers ;  but  the  first  stage  at  least  is 
pure  spinning,  and  the  finished  article  shows  how 
the  product  of  the  silk-glands  may  be  utilized  to 
elaborate  a  structure  wholly  different  from  the 
ordinary  web-cocoon.  The  head  end  of  the  cocoon 
is  said  to  be  made  of  thinner  material  than  the 
rest,  the  object  being  to  offer  less  resistance  to  the 
emergence  of  the  moth. 

But  this  is  not  invariably  the  case.     At  the  tim< 
of  writing  these  lines  we  have  opened  a  Puss  cocoon 
from  which  no  moth  had  emerged,  and  found  th 
upper   end   of   the   cocoon   actually   much   thicke 
than  the  other  parts.     The  moth  had  succeeded  ir 
throwing  off  the  chrysalis  skin,  but  had  evident!) 
been  unprovided  with  the  dissolvent  fluid,  for  there 
was  no  sign  of  its  action  on  the  glazed  lining  of  the 
cell.     So  the  insect  had  perished.     To  the  same 
end  the  front  part  of  the  chrysalis  skin  has  a  low 
sharp  ridge  with  which  it  cracks  the  cocoon,  and 
this  part  of  the  skin  remains  attached  to  the  moth's 
head  until  after  emergence.     The  reason  for  this 


SPINNERS  AND  WEAVERS  13 

appears  in  the  secretion  by  the  moth  of  a  strongly 
alkaline  fluid  which  softens  the  cracked  cocoon 
sufficiently  to  enable  the  insect  to  push  through; 
but  a  fluid  sufficiently  strong  to  so  act  on  this  hard 
material  would  probably  injure  the  moth  if  its 
head  were  not  protected  by  this  cap.  Several  of 
the  near  relations  of  the  Puss  Moth  make  similar, 
though  smaller,  cocoons  on  bark,  but  others  descend 
to  earth,  and  these  caterpillars  spin  only  a  flimsy 
cocoon,  sufficient  to  hold  the  surrounding  earth 
particles  together. 

One  of  the  caterpillars  of  the  Puss  Moth  group — 
the  Dragon  (Hybocampa  milhauseri) — constructs  a 
cocoon  of  the  solid  silk  kind,  and  to  effect  the  exit 
of  the  moth  the  chrysalis  is  provided  with  a 
hard  head-spine.  The  cocoon  is  made  to  fit  the 
chrysalis  closely,  so  that  when  the  time  comes  for 
the  emergence  of  the  moth  the  chrysalis  is  able  to 
rotate  the  fore-part  of  its  body,  and  the  spine  thus 
travels  over  the  same  part  of  the  cocoon  until  it 
has  cut  out  sufficient  space  to  allow  of  the  moth's 
exit.  The  process — which  has  'been  fully  described 
by  Dr.  T.  A.  Chapman — is  helped  by  the  pouring 
out  of  a  softening  fluid  guided  to  the  right  place 
by  the  same  spine. 

The  caterpillars  of  the  Oak  Egger  family  spin 
firm,  close-textured  cocoons  of  an  oval  shape, 
mostly  attached  to  twigs  or  leaves,  and  with  the 
hairs  from  the  spinner's  body  interwoven  with  the 
silk.  These  cocoons  are  in  some  cases  given  the 
appearance  of  egg-shell  by  the  caterpillar  ejecting 


H    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

on  the  silk  a  fluid  containing  okalate  of  lime,  whic 
hardens  and  gives  the  chalky  appearance.  Th 
caterpillars  of  the  Tussock  Moth  family,  whic 
includes  the  Gold-tail,  the  Gipsy,  and  the  Vapourer 
also  mix  hairs  with  the  silk,  but  the  cocoons  are  les 
substantial  than  those  of  the  Eggers ;  and  in  th 
Tiger  Moths  they  are  still  more  flimsy,  the  chrysali 
in  some  cases  being  plainly  visible  through  them. 

The  butterfly-like  moth  Castnia  eudesmia,  o 
Chili,  comes  from  a  caterpillar  that  is  still  mor 
sparing  in  its  use  of  silk.  Though  its  cocoon  i 
five  inches  long,  it  is  composed  mainly  of  twigs 
leaves,  and  other  vegetable  matter  merely  bounc 
together  with  silken  threads.  In  this  respect  i 
comes  close  to  our  Goat  Moth  (Trypanus  cornus) 
whose  huge  and  strong-smelling  caterpillar,  afte 
several  years  spent  in  the  interior  of  trees,  wander 
out  and  constructs  a  cocoon  which  is  largely  mad< 
of  rotten  wood  fragments  held  together  by  silk. 

The  two  little  moths  known  as  the  Festoon 
(Limacodes  testudo)  and  the  Triangle  (Heterogena 
asella)  issue  from  roundish  cocoons  attached  to 
leaves  and  twigs  of  oak,  that  look  more  like  vegetabl< 
galls  than  silken  structures.  The  cocoon  is  fur- 
nished with  a  distinct  hinged  lid  which  opens  on 
the  pressure  of  the  emerging  moth.  The  related 
American  species,  Lagoa  opercularis,  constructs  a 
similar  cocoon. 

In  the  familiar  Burnet  Moths  (Zyg&na)  the  silk 
is  so  closely  woven  and  varnished  with  liquid  silk 
that  the  long  spindle-shaped  cocoons  are  parch- 


0,  3 


I 


S 


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••I 


SPINNERS  AND  WEAVERS  15 

menty,  and  crackle  when  touched.  The  chrysalis 
contrives  to  force  its  way  half  out  of  the  upper 
end  just  prior  to  the  emergence  of  the  moth. 

Although  the  butterflies  as  a  class  are  contented 
with  a  pad  of  silk  for  the  chrysalis  to  hook  its  tail 
in,  and  a  silken  girdle  round  its  middle,  there 
are  a  few  whose  caterpillars  spin  cocoons.  Such  is 
the  case  with  the  Grayling  Butterfly  (Satyrus 
semele),  although  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  silk 
is  reduced  to  the  minimum — just  sufficient  to  hold 
the  earth  particles  together.  The  caterpillars,  too, 
of  the  Skipper  Butterflies  spin  a  slight  cocoon,  as 
a  rule  drawing  together  a  few  of  the  leaves  of  the 
plant  upon  which  they  feed. 

The  caterpillars  of  some  moths  as  soon  as  they 
leave  the  egg -combine  to  weave  an  extensive  sheet 
of  silk  around  the  twigs  of  their  food-plant,  enclosing 
a  considerable  number  of  leaves  upon  which  they 
can  feed  in  safety.  A  very  familiar  example  of  this 
class  of  spinner  is  the  little  grey  moth  Hypono- 
meuta  padella^  which  often  strips  hawthorn  hedges 
completely  of  their  leaves,  and  the  twigs  are  bare 
save  for  the  caterpillars'  extensive  sheets  of  webbing. 
It  is  remarkable  that,  throughout  their  larval 
existence,  the  caterpillars  hatched  from  one  batch 
of  eggs  will  keep  together  under  the  protection  of 
their  own  common  tent.  An  allied  species,  Hypono- 
meuta  cagnagella,  makes  havoc  of  the  spindle- tree, 
and  of  the  garden  Euonymus,  under  similar  pro- 
tective webs. 

Other    species    construct    these   webs    for    their 


16    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

protection  during  their  infancy  only;  later  the 
caterpillars  disperse,  and  each  continues  to  lead  a 
separate  existence  thereafter.  Of  this  group  is  the 
caterpillar  of  the  Lackey  Moth  (Malacosoma  neus- 
tria),  which,  however,  keeps  up  the  communal 
habit  until  it  is  of  considerable  size.  They  issue 
from  the  tent  to  feed  upon  the  surrounding  leaves. 
Often  when  the  sun  is  shining  they  may  be  seen 
clustered  on  the  exterior  of  the  tent  as  though 
enjoying  a  sun-bath.  When  about  to  change 
their  skins  they  usually  seek  the  retirement  afforded 
by  the  tent.  These  structures  do  not  present 
the  finished  appearance  of  the  cocoon  and  do  not 
suggest  the  skilled  worker  as  that  does.  In  fact, 
they  are  generally  passed  by  as  being  of  the  same 
character  as  the  dusty  sheets  spread  across  obscure 
corners  by  the  big  house  spider. 

The  young  caterpillars  of  several  of  our  butter- 
flies construct  similar  tents  for  common  protection. 
Thus  the  larvae  of  the  Marsh  Fritillary  (Melitaia 
aurinid)  soon  after  they  escape  from  the  eggs  in 
July  spin  together  the  leaves  of  devil's-bit  scabious, 
connecting  them  by  sheets  of  gauzy  webbing,  and 
under  the  tent  so  formed  they  feed  in  company. 
When  all  the  leaves  in  this  tent  have  been  robbed 
of  their  nutritive  parts,  the  company  abandons  this 
dwelling  and  moves  off  to  another  plant,  which 
they  surround  with  a  larger  structure  than  the 
first.  Towards  the  end  of  summer  they  leave  this 
in  turn  and  retire  to  the  lower  parts  of  the  plant, 
where  they  construct  another  web,  become  sluggish, 


SPINNERS  AND  WEAVERS  17 

and  pass  the  autumn  and  winter  in  an  inactive 
condition;  but  as  soon  as  vegetation  becomes 
active  in  spring  these  caterpillars  throw  off  their 
sluggishness  and  leave  their  winter  shelter.  Each 
now  goes  his  own  way  and  lives  independently  of 
his  fellows.  The  caterpillars  of  the  Glanville 
Fritillary  (Melitcea  cinxia)  adopt  a  modification  of 
this  plan.  They  live  in  company,  and  when  about 
a  month  old  spin  a  common  tent  in  which  they 
pass  the  winter,  leaving  it  in  spring,  when  they 
separate  somewhat. 

The  eggs  of  the  Small  Tortoiseshell  Butterfly 
(Vanessa  urtica)  are  laid  in  a  batch  of  sixty  or 
more  on  a  terminal  leaf  of  stinging  nettle,  and  as 
soon  as  they  are  hatched  the  tiny  caterpillars  set 
to  work  spinning  a  tent  which  includes  a  number 
of  leaves,  and  as  these  are  eaten  by  them  they 
extend  the  bounds  of  their  tent  to  include  more 
food.  Here  they  remain  in  company  until  more 
than  half-grown,  when  they  separate.  The  Peacock 
Butterfly  (Vanessa  id)  and  the  Camberwell  Beauty 
(Vanessa  antiopa)  follow  a  similar  method  in  the 
larval  stage  ;  but  the  caterpillars  of  the  Red  Admiral 
(Pyrameis  atalanta)  and  the  Painted  Lady  (Pyrameis 
cardui),  whose  eggs  are  laid  singly,  naturally  follow 
a  different  course,  though  they  are  both  spinners. 
Each  young  caterpillar  constructs  a  habitation  for 
itself,  by  connecting  the  edges  of  the  leaf  upon 
which  it  was  born  with  another  leaf  on  the  stem  of 
the  plant — the  Red  Admiral  on  the  nettle,  the 
Painted  Lady  on  the  thistle. 

2 


1 8    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WOR] 

Though  we  propose  to  deal  with  bees  in  a  later 
chapter,  under  the  head  of  workers  in  wax,  it  should 
be  noted  here  in  passing  that  the  bee  grub,  or 
larva,  is  a  spinner.  The  worker  bees  provide  it 
with  a  cell  of  wax  and  with  its  food,  but  before 
becoming  a  chrysalis  the  larva  constructs  a  cocoon 
by  lining  its  cell  with  fine  silk. 


II 

MINERS 


II 

MINERS 

THE  mining  industry  is  very  strongly  represented 
among  the  insect  races.  Its  exponents  practise 
many  diverse  forms  of  the  art,  some  crude,  others 
highly  specialized.  Some  insects  are  miners  from 
their  birth,  others  take  up  the  craft  only  when  they 
have  reached  maturity,  and  do  so  then  not  as  a 
means  of  subsistence  for  themselves,  but  solely  for 
the  purpose  of  providing  for  a  progeny  that  they 
will  never  see.  One  of  the  most  astonishing  things 
to  an  observant  entomologist  is  the  sight  of  the 
little  bees  of  the  genus  Andrena  busy  sinking  their 
vertical  mine-shafts  into  a  path  that  has  been 
beaten  down  to  make  it  uniformly  firm  and  level, 
and  trodden  by  feet  innumerable.  Try  with  your 
fingers  or  your  pocket-knife  to  excavate  such  a 
hole  yourself,  with  all  a  man's  strength,  and  you 
will  acknowledge  that  your  best  efforts  only  make  a 
very  sorry  job  of  it.  The  little  bee  has  only  her 
slender  legs  and  her  jaws  to  help  her  in  this  work, 
but  she  loosens  the  little  stones  and  the  hard  com- 
pacted soil,  and  gets  it  out  bit  by  bit,  and  in  a 
remarkably  short  space  of  time  has  sunk  her  mine 
to  a  depth  of  four  inches  or  more. 


21 


22    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

Well  might  Kirby  and  Spence  exclaim  :  "  No 
circumstance  connected  with  the  storge  of  insects 
is  more  striking  than  the  herculean  and  incessant 
labour  which  it  leads  them  cheerfully  to  undergo. 
Some  of  these  exertions  are  so  disproportionate  to 
the  size  of  the  insect,  that  nothing  short  of  ocular 
conviction  could  attribute  them  to  such  an  agent. 
A  wild  bee  or  a  Sphex,  for  instance,  will  dig  a  hole 
in  a  hard  bank  of  earth  some  inches  deep  and  five 
or  six  times  its  own  size,  and  labour  unremittingly 
at  this  arduous  undertaking  for  several  days,  scarcely 
allowing  itself  a  moment  for  eating  or  repose.  It 
will  then  occupy  as  much  time  in  searching  for  a 
store  of  food ;  and  no  sooner  is  this  task  finished, 
than  it  will  set  about  repeating  the  process,  and 
before  it  dies  will  have  completed  five  or  six 
similar  cells  or  even  more.  If  you  would  estimate 
this  industry  at  its  proper  value,  you  should 
reflect  what  kind  of  exertion  it  would  require  in  a 
man  to  dig  in  a  few  days,  out  of  hard  clay  or  sand, 
with  no  other  tools  than  his  nails  and  teeth,  five  or 
six  caverns  twenty  feet  deep  and  four  or  five  wide 
— for  such  an  undertaking  would  not  be  compara- 
tively greater  than  that  of  the  insects  in  question." 

If  we  carefully  dig  around  one  of  these  mine- 
shafts — no  easy  matter,  for  any  tools  we  use  appear 
to  be  too  clumsy  for  the  purpose — we  shall  find  that 
they  end  in  a  round  or  oval  chamber  at  the  side 
of  the  shaft.  In  this,  if  the  miner's  work  is  finished, 
there  is  a  compact  ball  of  pollen,  on  which  is  an 
egg  or  a  newly  hatched  grub.  The  pollen  is  just 


MINERS  23 

that  amount  of  food  necessary  for  the  grub  until  it 
attains  to  that  stage  of  development  when  it  is  fit 
to  enter  upon  the  fasting  pupal  period  in  which 
will  be  formed  the  wings  and  other  organs  of  the 
perfect  bee. 

The  species  of  Andrena  are  much  like  small 
Honey  Bees,  but  they  are  solitary  in  their  habits, 
and  have  short  tongues.  They  form  a  large  genus 
—about  fifty  species  are  found  in  the  British  Islands 
—but  their  habits  are  very  similar.  They  are  very 
noticeable  in  spring,  for  it  is  then  that  they  set 
about  their  mining  operations ;  when  they  are 
busy  collecting  pollen  from  the  early  flowers  they 
are  more  likely  to  be  set  down  as  Honey  Bees  and 
therefore  too  ordinary  to  be  particularly  noticed. 
The  mines  in  the  different  species  vary  from  five 
to  ten  inches  deep.  The  little  black  bees  of  the 
small  genus  Panurgus  agree  generally  in  their  habits 
with  Andrena. 

The  Hairy-legged  Miner  (Dasypoda  hirtipes),  a 
near  relation  of  the  Andrenas,  has  had  its  industrial 
operations  chronicled  at  length  by  Hermann  Miiller, 
who  says  the  excavating  work  is  performed  by  the 
bee's  jaws.  It  sinks  a  perpendicular  shaft  like 
Andrena^  only  much  longer — in  this  case  extending 
to  a  length  of  a  foot,  or  even  two  feet.  Its  hairy 
body  and  limbs  are  useful  adjuncts,  for  after  loosen- 
ing the  soil  with  its  jaws  it  carries  the  particles  out 
of  the  burrow  by  walking  backwards  and  so  sweeping 
them  out  at  the  entrance.  Before  going  back  for 
another  spell  of  digging  it  distributes  the  expelled 


24    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

material  over  a  comparatively  wide  area,  so  as  not 
to  be  incommoded  by  it  being  too  near  the  pit 
mouth  at  this  stage.  This  is  effected  very  rapidly, 
but  methodically,  by  means  of  its  fore  and  hind 
legs,  whilst  the  movements  of  the  bee,  as  a  whole, 
depend  upon  the  middle  pair  of  limbs.  The  front 
pair  of  legs  in  one  second  make  four  distinct  move- 
ments backwards,  throwing  the  soil  under  the  body 
where  it  can  be  reached  by  the  hind  legs,  which  are 
stretched  outward  in  a  manner  that  sweeps  the 
earth  to  each  side.  Then  the  bee  returns  to  the 
hole,  digs  out  more  earth,  hoists  it  out,  and  distri- 
butes it  as  before. 

Miiller  found  that  each  excavating  operation  took 
a  minute  or  two,  but  the  distribution  of  the  soil 
was  effected  in  fifteen  seconds.  As  the  shaft  gets 
deeper,  so  a  corresponding  increase  of  the  time  is 
required  for  getting  up  the  debris ;  and  when  at 
length  the  full  depth  has  been  reached  there  are 
the  brood-chambers  to  be  excavated.  These  number 
from  three  to  six,  and  the  first  made  is  at  the 
bottom  of  the  shaft.  The  provisioning  of  this  cell 
with  pollen  is  completed  before  the  second  one 
is  dug  out.  For  this  work  Dasypoda  is  well  organized. 
Her  hind  legs  are  densely  coated  with  long  hairs, 
and  able  to  hold  a  great  quantity  of  pollen.  It 
has  been  ascertained  that  a  normal  load  of  pollen 
is  equal  to  half  the  bee's  own  weight,  and  six  of 
such  loads  are  required  to  properly  provision  one  cell. 
With  a  little  honey  to  bind  it,  this  pollen  is  kneaded 
into  a  ball.  Then  a  further  load  of  pollen  is 


MINERS  25 

gathered,  mixed  with  honey  and  spread  as  an  outer 
layer  over  the  mass,  which  now  has  three  feet, 
fashioned  apparently  to  prevent  its  rolling  and 
injuring  the  bee-grub. 

Dasy-poda  now  lays  an  egg  on  the  top  of  it,  and 
leaves  it  whilst  she  excavates  her  second  chamber. 
With  the  material  resulting  from  this  work  she 
closes  up  the  entrance  to  the  first  chamber,  and 
so  saves  the  labour  of  carrying  it  up  to  the  top. 
In  like  manner  she  excavates  and  provisions  the 
other  chambers,  laying  an  egg  in  each.  The  pollen- 
mass  is  in  each  case  over  a  hundred  times  the  bulk 
of  the  egg,  and  is  just  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  food 
cravings  of  the  grub  that  is  to  issue  from  the  egg 
a  few  days  later.  The  outer  layer  of  the  food- 
ball,,  with  its  extra  proportion  of  honey,  is  evidently 
more  suited  for  the  first  digestive  efforts  of  the 
infant  grub,  for  k  eats  evenly  all  round  before 
attacking  the  less  sweetened  pollen  of  the  central 
mass.  All  the  waste  due  to  the  vital  processes  is 
retained  by  the  grub  until  all  the  food  is  consumed, 
and  then  it  is  voided  en  bloc.  By  this  arrangement 
there  is  no  danger  of  the  unconsumed  food  being 
polluted,  as  must  otherwise  happen.  The  larva 
having  finished  eating,  casts  its  skin,  and  lies  quiescent 
until  the  following  year,  when  it  becomes  a  chrysalis 
and  finally  a  bee. 

Another  group  of  these  short-tongued  solitary 
bees  is  the  genus  Halictus,  whose  numerous  species 
are  all  small,  some  indeed  being  the  smallest  of 
all  bees.  Some  of  these  may  be  seen  on  emerging 


26    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

from  the  underground  cells  where  they  have  lain 
dormant  through  the  winter.  There  is  this  differ- 
ence in  the  habits  of  Halictus  and  Andrena,  that 
certain  work  is  done  by  Halictus  in  common.  A 
number  of  females  unite  in  excavating  the  shaft, 
and  then  each  one  builds  her  own  set  of  cells 
unaided.  Instead  of  each  cell  being  a  separate 
chamber  opening  out  of  the  shaft  at  different 
levels,  the  cells  of  one  worker  form  a  mass  in  a 
common  vault — an  enlargement  of  one  part  of 
the  shaft  which,  however,  is  continued  far  below 
the  level  of  the  vaults.  The  object  of  this  down- 
ward extension  is  probably  the  better  drainage  of 
the  vault.  The  entrance  shaft  is  only  wide  enough 
for  one  bee  to  pass  in  or  out  at  one  time,  but  as 
several  workers  are  engaged,  this  would  lead  to 
much  loss  of  time  and  confusion  if  special  provision 
were  not  made.  This  takes  the  form  of  an  enlarge- 
ment of  the  width  not  far  from  the  entrance,  and 
allows  two  bees  going  in  opposite  directions  to  pass 
each  other.  Some  species  make  branch  corridors 
from  which  the  vaults  of  each  worker  open.  The 
cells  are  oval  and  lined  within  by  a  coat  of  liquid 
silk  or  varnish.  The  winged  bees  emerge  from 
these  cells  in  September ;  but  the  males  are  all 
killed  by  the  autumn  frosts,  whilst  the  females 
continue  to  live  underground  through  the  winter, 
emerging  from  their  mine- shafts  in  spring  and 
setting  to  work  at  once  to  enlarge  the  colony  or 
to  start  new  ones.  Their  mining  operations  are 
pursued  at  night,  especially  in  moonlight. 


MINERS  27 

Bees  of  the  genus  Colletes  dig  burrows  often 
eight  or  ten  inches  deep.  Although  solitary  bees 
in  the  sense  that  each  sinks  her  own  shaft  and 
provisions  only  her  own  cells,  yet  they  are  gregarious, 
large  numbers  of  them  mining  into  one  small  area. 
Sometimes  it  is  a  clay- bank,  a  vertical  face  of 
weathered  sandstone,  or  the  mortar  between  the 
masonry  of  an  old  wall.  The  shafts  are  filled  with 
a  succession  of  cells  in  line — from  two  to  eight — 
each  provisioned  with  a  paste  of  pollen  kneaded  up 
with  honey.  The  cells  themselves  are  formed  by  a 
secretion  from  the  bee's  mouth,  which  dries  and 
hardens  into  a  film  much  like  gold-beater's  skin. 
Three  or  four  layers  of  this  delicate  substance  can 
be  separated  with  care  from  each  cell — more  from 
the  ends.  When  the  last  cell  is  completed  the 
shaft  is  closed  with  grains  of  sand  or  earth.  Panur- 
gus,  of  which  we  have  two  species,  sinks  vertical 
shafts,  each  containing  six  cells. 

Eucera  longicornis,  whose  male  is  notable  for  the 
length  of  its  antennae — as  long  as  its  body — fre- 
quents loamy  and  sandy  soils,  and  sinks  a  shaft 
six  or  eight  inches  deep.  At  its  termination  it 
hollows  out  an  oval  cell,  and  apparently  treats  the 
walls  with  its  saliva  to  prevent  the  absorption  of 
the  mixture  of  pollen  and  honey  that  is  stored  for 
the  grub.  Like  Colletes  it  is  gregarious  in  some 
localities,  though  not  in  all.  Three  of  our  species 
of  Anthophora  likewise  mine  in  the  ground,  but  the 
other  is  a  carpenter  and  mines  into  wood.  The 
former  from  the  main  shaft  of  their  mine  construct 


28    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

several  elliptical  cells  and  line  these  with  saliva 
which  dries  into  a  delicate  membrane.  The  cell 
is  then  stored  with  pollen  and  honey,  an  egg  laid, 
and  the  cell  is  sealed  up. 

One  of  our  species  of  leaf-cutting  bees  (Megachih 
argentata)  mines  in  the  earth,  unlike  its  near  rela- 
tions, but  as  it  forms  its  cells  of  leaf-cuttings  we 
have  included  it  under  the  heading  Upholsterers, 
with  the  other  members  of  the  genus. 

Some  of  the  solitary  wasps  share  this  habit  of 
mining  in  order  to  make  provision  for  their  young. 
In  these  it  is  not  a  mass  of  pollen  that  is  provided 
for  the  food  of  the  future  grub.  Wasp-grubs 
require  animal  matter  for  their  aliment,  so  the 
wasp  has  to  hunt  for  caterpillars  or  spiders  with 
which  to  stock  the  larder.  Certain  species  restrict 
themselves  entirely  to  spiders,  others  to  grass- 
hoppers, others  again  to  caterpillars  of  a  particular 
family  of  moths.  The  catching  of  caterpillars  is 
a  simple  matter  to  a  wasp,  for  its  prey  has  no  means 
of  protecting  itself ;  the  grasshopper's  activity 
and  leaping  powers  give  it  a  sporting  chance ;  but 
the  spider  has  to  be  approached  warily,  for  its 
poison- fangs  might  put  it  upon  equal  terms  with  the 
wasp,  were  it  not  for  the  wings  of  the  latter,  which 
give  it  considerable  advantage  in  manoeuvring. 
However,  the  wasp  has  a  due  sense  of  the  respect 
to  be  paid  to  those  poison-fangs,  the  additional  pair 
of  legs,  and  the  possibility  of  having  strong  cords 
wound  round'pne ;  she,  therefore,  resorts  to  strategy 
when  hunting  spiders. 


MINERS  29 

One  of  these  spider-hunters  is  Calicurgus,  but 
although  it  belongs  to  the  group  of  burrowing 
Hymenoptera  it  mostly  seeks  for  a  ready-made  hole 
in  which  to  deposit  its  prey  and  its  eggs.  The 
Spider-wasp  (Pompilus)  is  a  true  miner,  but  it 
reverses  the  order  of  operations  followed  by  the 
solitary  bees  we  have  mentioned.  Instead  of  first 
sinking  a  shaft  and  forming  cells,  and  then  seeking 
for  provisions  for  the  future  grub,  Pompilus  first 
captures  its  spider  and  then  excavates  a  hole  in 
which  to  accommodate  it.  It  is  probable  that  this 
plan  may  frequently  lead  to  the  nest  being  ready 
first,  owing  to  the  first  secured  prey  being  carried 
off  by  another  wasp  whilst  the  mining  operations 
are  in  progress. 

Fabre  gives  a  detailed  account  of  some  experiments 
he  made  in  order  to  test  Pompilus9  sense  of  locality, 
and  to  ascertain  how  she  would  behave  under  certain 
conditions.  A  Pompilus  that  he  had  watched  catch 
and  sting  a  spider  to  render  it  helpless  left  her  prey 
on  a  tuft  of  vegetation  whilst  she  proceeded  to 
make  a  burrow.  She  does  not  wait  until  the  burrow 
is  finished  before  looking  for  the  spider,  but  leaves 
off  work  at  intervals  in  order  to  visit  the  spider, 
to  touch  it  and  so  assure  herself  that  it  is  her  spider, 
and  that  it  is  quite  safe.  In  this  case,  as  soon 
as  the  wasp  had  set  to  work  on  her  mining  operations, 
Fabre  removed  the  spider  to  a  distance  of  about 
eighteen  inches.  When  Pompilus  had  worked  for 
a  spell  she  left  off  and  flew  straight  to  the  spot 
where  she  had  left  her  treasure,  and  exhibited  grave 


30    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

concern  at  its  absence.  She  carefully  walked  over 
the  surrounding  ground  as  though  to  make  sure  that 
her  memory  was  not  at  fault,  then,  satisfying  herself 
that  it  was  not  there,  she  extended  her  survey  and 
at  length  found  her  spider.  But  her  actions  showed 
that  she  was  greatly  astonished  at  the  change  of 
position,  and  she  appeared  to  be  unable  to  account 
for  it.  It  was  incomprehensible  that  she  could 
have  left  a  spider  in  that  position ;  but  seizing 
one  of  its  legs  she  removed  it  to  a  tuft  of  vegetation, 
and  resumed  her  digging.  Fabre  again  removed  it, 
and  when  the  wasp  next  rested  from  her  digging  she 
flew  straight  to  the  place  where  she  had  last  left 
it,  and,  failing  to  find  it,  quartered  the  immediate 
surroundings  as  she  had  done  in  the  first  place. 

Five  times  the  naturalist  removed  the  spider, 
and  every  time  Pompilus  went  through  the  same 
performance,  seeking  her  treasure  where  she  had 
last  kid  it,  showing  that  her  sense  of  locality  was 
perfect.  Had  she  been  guided  by  scent  she  would 
probably  have  gone  to  one  of  the  places  where  the 
spider  had  previously  lain,  but  this  she  never  did. 
Nor  could  sight  have  played  anything  more  than  a 
subordinate  part  in  the  discovery,  for  Fabre  found 
that,  though  the  spider  was  only  a  couple  of  inches 
from  the  wasp  in  some  of  her  searches,  she  passed 
without  seeing  it.  When,  however,  her  sense  of 
locality  had  brought  her  to  the  exact  spot  where 
she  had  left  her  prey,  it  was  clear  that  the  sense 
of  vision  came  into  play,  for  when  Fabre  placed 
the  spider  in  a  slight  depression  of  the  ground 


MINERS  31 

and  covered  it  with  a  leaf,   the  wasp  could   not 
find  it. 

Kirby  and  Spence  have  left  us  an  account  of  the 
doings  of  a  Pompilus  which  one  of  them  saw  hauling 
a  spider  to  its  shaft.  "  The  attitude  in  which  it 
carried  its  prey,  namely,  with  its  feet  constantly 
upwards ;  its  singular  mode  of  walking,  which 
was  backwards,  except  for  a  foot  or  two  when  it 
went  forwards,  moving  by  jerks  and  making  a  sort 
of  pause  every  few  steps  ;  and  the  astonishing  agility 
with  which,  notwithstanding  its  heavy  burden,  it 
glided  over  or  between  the  grass,  weeds,  and  other 
numerous  impediments  in  the  rough  path  along 
which  it  passed — together  formed  a  spectacle 
which  we  contemplated  with  admiration.  The 
distance  which  we  thus  observed  it  to  traverse  was 
not  less  than  twenty-seven  feet ;  and  great  part 
of  its  journey  had  probably  been  performed  before 
we  saw  it.  Once  or  twice,  when  we  first  noticed 
it,  it  laid  down  the  spider,  and  making  a  small 
circuit,  returned  and  took  it  up  again.  But  for 
the  ensuing  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet  it  never 
stopped,  but  proceeded  in  a  direct  line  to  its 
burrow  with  the  utmost  speed.  When  opposite 
the  hole,  which  was  in  a  sand-bank  by  the  wayside,  it 
made  a  sharp  turn,  as  evidently  aware  of  being  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  its  abode,  but  when  advanced 
a  little  farther  laid  down  its  burthen  and  went  to 
reconnoitre.  At  first  it  climbed  up  the  bank,  but 
as  if  discovering  that  this  was  not  the  direction, 
soon  returned,  and  after  another  survey,  perceiving 


32    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 
the  hole,  took  up  the  spider  and  dragged  it  in  after 


it." 


All  the  species  of  Pompilus  are  not  to  be  reckoned 
among  miners,  for  some  of  them  look  about  for  a 
hole  that  has  been  mined  by  some  other  insect. 
They  are  all  spider-hunters,  and  some  of  them 
secure  their  prey  before  they  have  prepared  a 
nest.  They  take  the  precaution  to  sting  their 
spider  and  then  hang  the  helpless  body  in  the  forking 
of  some  plant  until  they  have  excavated  their 
mine,  which  they  do  with  such  speed  that  the  fine 
earth  flies  out  of  the  hole  like  a  fountain,  so  rapid 
are  the  movements  of  their  limbs  in  digging.  The 
Peckhams  tried  several  experiments  of  substituting 
healthy  spiders  for  those  that  had  been  stung, 
whilst  Pompilus  was  digging  her  nest ;  but  the 
attempt  never  succeeded — the  wasp  always  knew 
that  some  trick  had  been  played  upon  her,  and 
always  refused  to  be  a  party  to  the  exchange.  Even 
when  a  spider  that  had  been  stolen  by  them  from 
one  Pompilus  was  dropped  near  the  mouth  of 
another  Pompilus^  nest,  her  interest  in  it  extended 
only  as  far  as  a  tactile  examination.  She  refused  to 
accept  it,  though  this  would  probably  have  saved 
her  from  a  tedious  hunt  for  a  fresh  specimen. 

The  mining  of  one  of  these — Pompilus  quinqueno- 
tatus — has  been  described  by  these  observers  :  "  She 
was  working  away  as  furiously  as  though  she  had 
studied  the  poets  and  knew  her  carpe  diem  by  heart. 
Faster  and  faster  went  the  slender  little  legs  ; 
higher  and  higher  rose  the  jet  of  dust  above  her. 


MINERS  33 

Then  suddenly  there  was  a  pause.  The  burrower 
had  met  with  some  obstacle.  A  moment  more 
and  she  came  backing  out  of  the  hole,  her  feet 
slipping  on  its  crumbling  edges.  In  her  mandibles 
she  carried  a  pebble,  which  was  taken  to  a  distance 
of  four  or  five  inches.  Then,  moving  quickly,  she 
swept  away  the  dust  that  had  accumulated  near 
the  mouth  of  the  nest,  re-entered  the  hole,  and 
resumed  the  labour  of  excavation.  We  thought 
that  the  rate  at  which  she  worked  was  too  violent 
to  be  kept  up  very  long ;  and  sure  enough,  before 
ten  minutes  had  passed,  the  nest  was  deep  enough 
for  her  purposes.  .  .  .  The  wasp  came  out,  circled 
round  the  spot  three  or  four  times,  and  then  flew 
off  like  a  hurricane.  Never  have  we  seen  a  creature 
so  fiery,  tempestuous,  cyclonic.  Before  we  knew 
her  proper  title  we  took  to  calling  her  the  tornado 
wasp,  and  by  that  name  we  shall  always  think  of  her." 
She  was  back  in  a  minute  with  her  spider,  dug 
out  a  little  more  earth,  then  seizing  her  victim  by 
one  leg,  she  dragged  it  backward  into  the  nest. 
"  She  remained  hidden  for  about  two  minutes,  then 
reappeared,  and,  seeming  to  be  in  as  great  a  hurry 
as  ever,  filled  the  hole  with  dirt.  To  disguise  the 
spot  and  render  it  indistinguishable  from  the  rest 
of  the  field  was  her  next  care.  Hither  and  thither 
she  rushed,  now  bringing  little  pellets  of  earth 
and  placing  them  above  the  nest,  now  sweeping 
away  the  loose  dust  which  might  suggest  the 
presence  of  the  cache,  and  now  tugging  frantically 
at  a  stone  which  she  wanted  to  place  over  the 

3 


34    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

hidden  treasure,  but  which  was  too  deeply  embedded 
in  the  earth  to  yield  to  her  efforts.  She  did  her 
work  faithfully,  although  with  such  eager  haste 
that  all  was  completed  at  the  end  of  twenty  minutes 
from  the  time  we  saw  her  first.  So  well  was  the 
place  hidden  that  it  was  only  by  careful  orientation 
that  we  could  be  certain  of  its  exact  locality." 

An  allied  insect,  Sphex,  has  had  its  doings  chron- 
icled at  length  by  Fabre.  Spbex  is  a  strenuous 
worker,  for  during  the  four  weeks  or  so  to  which 
its  activities  as  a  winged  insect  are  restricted  it 
sinks  no  fewer  than  ten  deep  perpendicular  shafts 
each  with  three  or  four  separate  chambers  at  the 
bottom,  stored  with  food  and  each  furnished  with 
an  egg.  It  selects  a  slight  elevation  of  the  soil,  and 
into  this  it  bores  a  horizontal  gallery  two  or  three 
inches  in  length.  At  the  end  of  this  gallery  it  sinks 
the  perpendicular  shaft,  also  for  a  depth  of  about 
three  inches,  and  at  the  bottom  the  oval  cells  are 
made  side  by  side.  These  are  so  constructed  that 
the  longer  axes  of  the  ovals  are  horizontal ;  and  the 
first  formed  is  provisioned  and  sealed  up  before  the 
second  one  is  dug. 

The  provisions  for  each  cell  consist  of  three  or 
four  field  crickets,  and  these  are  carefully  stung  in 
the  three  principal  nerve  centres  of  the  body,  which 
has  the  effect  of  completely  paralyzing  the  cricket 
without  killing  it.  It  is  carried  by  the  Sphex 
to  the  mouth  of  the  burrow,  where  it  is  dropped 
whilst  the  wasp  goes  in  to  ascertain  that  all 
is  right.  Then*  grasping  the  cricket  by  its  antennae, 


MINERS  35 

the  wasp,  going  backwards,  draws  its  victim  into 
the  cell.  A  cricket  so  treated  will  remain  alive, 
though  utterly  incapable  of  any  movement,  for  three 
or  four  weeks,  a  much  longer  period  than  it  takes 
the  wasp-grub  to  consume  it. 

The  cricket  is  laid  on  its  back,  and  on  one  of  the 
crickets  in  each  cell  a  Spbex  egg  is  deposited  between 
the  second  and  third  pairs  of  legs.  As  soon  as  the 
egg  is  hatched,  the  young  grub  attacks  the  cricket 
at  this  point  and  burrows  into  its  body,  eating  out 
all  the  interior  in  a  week,  and  leaving  nothing  but 
the  cricket's  skin.  The  other  crickets  are  similarly 
disposed  of  in  turn,  but,  owing  to  the  greater  size 
of  the  wasp-grub,  the  pace  is  accelerated,  so  that 
in  less  than  a  fortnight  from  the  hatching  of  the 
egg  all  the  food  is  consumed.  The  grub  then  con- 
structs an  elaborate  cocoon  of  two  separate  cases 
of  white  or  yellowish  silk,  and  within  these  a  case 
of  firmer  texture  and  dark  colour  with  a  glossy 
surface.  This  is  apparently  formed  of  a  mixture 
of  fluid  silk  with  the  excrementitious  matter  that 
has  been  stored  in  the  intestines  all  through  the 
feeding  period,  and  its  purpose  appears  to  be  to 
protect  the  grub  from  damp  during  the  nine  months 
of  its  incarceration,  prior  to  its  assumption  of  the 
winged  condition. 

The  Sand  Wasps  (Ammophila)  have  a  similar 
predilection  for  the  vertical  shaft  and  the  insect- 
stocked  larders,  only  this  time  it  is  caterpillars  that 
are  used.  The  Ammophilas  have  the  hind  body 
connected  to  the  fore  body  by  a  very  long  and 


36    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

slender  "  pedicel."  A  well-known  species  is  Ammo- 
pbila  sabulosa,  which  is  entirely  black  save  for  a 
band  of  red  which  includes  half  the  hind  body  and 
a  third  of  the  pedicel.  There  are  many  other 
species  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  and  their 
habits  appear  to  be  very  similar,  except  that  each 
species  seems  to  have  its  own  favourite  caterpillar 
with  which  to  provision  its  nest. 

Spbex,  during  the  time  it  is  not  excavating  or 
hunting,  occupies  the  vestibule  afforded  by  the 
horizontal  burrow,  and  passes  the  night  there. 
Ammo-phila  does  not.  When  her  work  is  over  for 
the  day,  she  literally  "  shuts  up  shop  "  by  stopping 
the  entrance  with  a  small  stone.  In  recent  years 
we  have  had  accounts  of  its  operations  from  Fabre 
and  Marchal,  but  as  long  ago  as  the  summer  of  1667 
our  countryman,  John  Ray,  and  his  friend  Wil- 
lughby,  were  observing  it,  and  Ray  has  told  us 
in  his  History  of  Insects  what  they  saw. 

The  Sand  Wasp  was  dragging  along  a  green 
caterpillar  three  times  its  own  size.  When  it  had 
dragged  this  load  for  a  distance  of  about  fifteen  feet,  it 
came  to  a  hole  previously  dug  in  the  sand,  and  left  the 
caterpillar  beside  it  whilst  it  set  to  work  to  remove 
a  pellet  of  earth  that  blocked  the  mouth  of  the 
shaft.  The  wasp  descended  into  the  cavity,  but 
soon  reappeared  and  took  the  caterpillar  again  in 
tow.  They  both  disappeared  below,  and  the  wasp 
came  up  alone  after  an  interval  and  busied  itself 
in  rolling  pieces  of  earth  into  the  hole — "  at  intervals 
scratching  the  dust  into  it  like  a  dog  with  its  fore 


MINERS  37 

feet,  and  entering  as  if  to  press  down  and  consolidate 
the  mass,  flying  once  or  twice  to  an  adjoining  fir- 
tree,  possibly  to  procure  resin  for  agglutinating  the 
whole.  Having  filled  the  burrow  to  the  level  of 
the  surrounding  earth  so  as  to  conceal  the  entrance, 
it  took  two  fir-leaves  lying  at  hand,  and  placed 
them  near  the  orifice,  as  if  to  mark  the  place." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peckham  have  given  us  most 
interesting  accounts  of  two  American  species  of 
Ammophila — A.  urnalis  and  A.  gracilis — agreeing  in 
the  main  with  Fabre's  observations  of  A.  hirsuta 
and  A.  sabulosa^  but,  of  course,  with  variations 
which  mark  the  specific  difference  of  the  insects. 
One  individual  urnalis  whose  behaviour  they  watched 
was  so  precise  in  all  she  did  that  we  cannot  refrain 
from  quoting  part  of  their  account  : 

"  We  remember  her  as  the  most  fastidious  and 
perfect  little  worker  of  the  whole  season,  so  nice 
was  she  in  her  adaptation  of  means  to  ends,  so  busy 
and  contented  in  her  labour  of  love,  and  so  pretty 
in  her  pride  over  the  completed  work.  In  filling 
up  her  nest  she  put  her  head  down  into  it  and 
bit  away  the  loose  earth  from  the  sides,  letting 
it  fall  to  the  bottom  of*  the  burrow,  and  then, 
after  a  quantity  had  accumulated,  jammed  it  down 
with  her  head.  Earth  was  then  brought  from  the 
outside  and  pressed  in,  and  then  more  was  bitten 
from  the  sides.  When,  at  last,  the  filling  was  level 
with  the  ground,  she  brought  a  quantity  of  fine 
grains  of  dirt  to  the  spot,  and  picking  up  a  small 
pebble  in  her  mandibles,  used  it  as  a  hammer  in 


38    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

pounding  them  down  with  rapid  strokes,  thus 
making  this  spot  as  hard  and  firm  as  the  surrounding 
surface.  Before  we  could  recover  from  our  astonish- 
ment at  this  performance  she  had  dropped  her 
stone  and  was  bringing  more  earth.  We  then  threw 
ourselves  down  on  the  ground  that  not  a  motion 
might  be  lost,  and  in  a  moment  we  saw  her  pick 
up  the  pebble  and  again  pound  the  earth  into 
place  with  it,  hammering  now  here  and  now  there 
until  all  was  level.  Once  more  the  whole  process 
was  repeated,  and  then  the  little  creature,  all 
unconscious  of  the  commotion  that  she  had  aroused 
in  our  minds — unconscious,  indeed,  of  our  very 
existence  and  intent  only  on  doing  her  work  and 
doing  it  well — gave  one  final,  comprehensive  glance 
around  and  flew  away." 

Dr.  S.  W.  Williston  records  a  somewhat  similar 
experience  with  Ammo'phila  yarrowii. 

There  is  only  a  single  cell  at  the  bottom  of  the 
Sand  Wasp's  shaft,  and  some  species  fill  this  with 
several  small  or  medium-size  caterpillars  ;  others 
with  a  single  large  caterpillar.  All  of  these,  of 
course,  are  stung  in  order  to  paralyze  them.  Fabre 
says  of  Ammophila  hirsuta,  that  she  provisions  her 
cell  with  only  one  caterpillar,  that  of  one  of  the 
Noctuids,  which  is  an  underground  feeder  and, 
therefore,  cannot  be  found  by  sight.  This  cater- 
pillar she  stings  about  nine  times  in  as  many  for- 
ward divisions  of  its  body.  She  waits  until  she  has 
secured  this  caterpillar  before  she  sets  to  work  at 
her  mining  operations. 


MINERS  39 

Another  genus  of  these  "  fossorial  wasps "  is 
Tachytes,  which  resembles  Sphex  in  its  habits. 
It  sinks  vertical  shafts  in  the  ground,  and  uses 
insects  of  the  order  Orthoptera  for  the  stocking  of 
its  pantries.  Some  species  take  field  crickets,  some 
grasshoppers,  others  mole  crickets ;  and  one  has 
the  courage  and  skill  to  use  the  murderous  mantis, 
whose  scissor-like  fore  legs  could  easily  cut  Tachytes 
into  little  bits.  But  Tachytes  appears  to  know  its 
risk  and  relies  on  strategy :  it  flies  around  the 
mantis  for  a  time,  just  out  of  reach,  and  the  rapid 
turning  of  the  latter's  head  to  enable  it  to  keep 
at  least  one  eye  on  Tachytes  produces  confusion 
in  its  nerve-centres.  Then  is  Tacbytes'  chance  :  it 
swoops  down  and  thrusts  its  sting  between  the 
bases  of  the  formidable  fore  legs,  paralyzing  the 
nerves  that  operate  them.  The  other  legs  are 
served  in  like  fashion,  and  the  mantis  is  at  once 
in  a  condition  to  be  hauled  off  to  Tachytes* 
larder. 

In  another  genus  of  small  mining  wasps — Astata 
— a  strange  taste  is  exhibited — judged  from  the 
human  standpoint  we  should  have  to  call  it  a 
depraved  taste.  These  wasps  for  the  sustenance 
of  their  progeny  select  two  of  the  most  repulsive 
of  insects — one,  a  plant-bug  (Pentatoma),  the  other 
a  small  cockroach.  Nearly  all  the  bugs  are  pro- 
vided with  stink-glands  which  emit  the  most 
disgusting  odour,  and  Pentatoma  is  not  one  of  the 
exceptional  kinds.  Some  people  say,  however,  that 
the  smell  given  off  by  the  cockroach  is  even  worse 


40    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

than  that  of  bugs.     The  burrow  of  Astata  ends  in  a 
single  cell. 

The  whole  of  these  mining  wasps  that  we  have 
mentioned  so  far  agree  in  the  fact  that  they  lay 
up  provisions  for  a  progeny  they  will  never  see, 
and  having  sealed  up  the  cells  or  the  burrows  they 
manifest  no  further  concern  in  them.  In  the  genus 
Bembex^  however,  we  find  an  advance  upon  this 
condition  of  things,  and  an  approach  to  the  care 
with  which  the  social  wasps  feed  the  grubs  of  the 
community  continuously,  or  at  least  as  frequently 
as  they  require  food.  Bembex  is  not  represented 
among  the  wasps  of  Britain,  but  one  species — 
Bembex  rostrata — is  found  in  Southern  Europe,  and 
Fabre  has  made  it  the  subject  of  one  of  his  remark- 
able insect  biographies,  which  should  be  read  in 
full  by  all  interested  in  wasp  life.  Only  the  merest 
summary  can  be  given  here,  in  the  hope  that  the 
full  account  will  afterwards  be  sought  by  our 
readers. 

The  wasp  drives  her  burrows  in  fine  loose  sand 
and  makes  no  effort  to  give  them  permanence  by 
cementing  the  walls.  Instead  of  provisioning  her 
cells  with  sufficient  food  to  last  the  grub  until  it 
reaches  its  full  size,  she  merely  catches  a  two-winged 
fly,  which  she  does  not  paralyze,  but  kills,  and 
depositing  it  in  the  burrow,  lays  an  egg  upon  it. 
Her  excavating  work  is  done  entirely  by  means  of 
the  fore  legs,  which  work  with  such  rapidity  that 
the  loose  sand  pours  out  in  a  stream  from  beneath 
her.  When  the  dead  fly  is  placed  in  this  burrow 


MINERS  41 

the  sand  is  drawn  over  it  until  there  is  no  sign  of 
its  situation,  and  the  marvel  is  that  the  wasp  can 
ever  find  the  place  again.  But  she  does,  for  her 
egg  hatches  next  day,  and  the  fly  is  only  sufficient 
to  feed  the  grub  for  two  or  three  days.  By  that 
time  Bembex  is  back  with  another  fly,  and  rapidly 
excavates  straight  to  her  offspring,  where  she  leaves 
the  new  supply  of  food.  Fabre  says  that  she  makes 
several  burrows  in  succession,  and  therefore  has  to 
keep  them  all  supplied  with  fresh  viands.  This 
implies  knowledge  of  their  several  whereabouts  (all 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood)  and  of  when 
their  supplies  will  require  replenishing. 

The  flies  chiefly  patronized  by  Bembex  for  this 
purpose  are  gadflies  (Tab anus).  Cattle  raisers  should, 
therefore,  regard  Bembex  as  a  good  friend.  As  far 
away  as  the  Americas,  North  and  South,  the 
Bembecid  Wasps — some  of  them  far  superior  in  size 
to  the  European  species — show  this  same  preference 
for  blood-sucking  flies,  and  they  have  often  been 
observed  to  capture  them  in  the  very  act  of  drawing 
blood  from  horses.  Bates  relates  that  when  on  the 
Amazons  one  of  these  flies — a  Motuca — had  settled 
on  his  neck  for  a  feast  when  a  Bembex  as  big  as  a 
hornet  swooped  down  and  captured  his  tormentor. 

Bates  describes  the  mining  operations  of  a  small 
pale-green  species  of  Bembex  (B.  ciliatd)  which  he 
found  plentiful  near  the  bay  of  Mapiri,  near  San- 
tarem.  He  says  :  "  When  they  are  at  work,  a 
number  of  little  jets  of  sand  are  seen  shooting 
over  the  surface  of  the  sloping  bank.  The  little 


42    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

miners    excavate   with    their .  fore  feet,    which    are 
strongly  built  and  furnished  with  a  fringe  of  stiff 
bristles ;    they  work  with  wonderful  rapidity,  and 
the   sand  thrown   out   beneath  their  bodies   issues 
in   continuous   streams.     They   are   solitary   wasps, 
each  female  working  on  her  own  account.     After 
making  a  gallery  two  or  three  inches  in  length,  in  a 
slanting    direction    from    the    surface,    the    owner 
backs  out  and  takes  a  few    turns  round  the  orifice 
apparently  to  see  if  it  is  well  made,  but  in  reality, 
I  believe,  to  take  note  of  the  locality,  that  she  may 
find   it   again.     This   done,   the   busy  workwoman 
flies  away ;    but  returns,  after  an  absence  varying 
in  different  cases  from  a  few  minutes  to  an  hour 
or  more,  with  a  fly  in  her  grasp,  with  which  she 
re-enters    her    mine.     On    again     emerging,     the 
entrance  is  carefully  closed  with  sand.     During  this 
interval  she  has  laid  an  egg  on  the  body  of  the  fly, 
which  she  had  previously  benumbed  with  her  sting, 
and  which  is  to  serve  as  food  for  the  soft,  footless 
grub  soon  to  be  hatched  from  the  egg.     From  what 
I  could  make  out,  the  Eembex  makes  a  fresh  excava- 
tion for  every  egg  to  be  deposited ;   at  least,  in  two 
or  three  of  the  galleries  which  I  opened  there  was 
only  one  fly  enclosed." 

Although  a  solitary  wasp,  Bembex,  like  Philan- 
thus  and  Spbex,  likes  to  have  neighbours,  and  so 
we  find  a  number  of  them  occupying  a  small  plot 
of  ground,  but  each  "  pegging  out  her  own  claim  " 
in  that  restricted  mining  region.  Yet,  though  they 
appear  to  like  neighbours,  they  are  not  what  could 


MINERS  43 

be  called  neighbourly  in  their  behaviour.  If  one 
comes  home  with  an  extra  fine  fly,  two  or  three  of 
her  neighbours  are  likely  to  try  to  hustle  her 
with  the  object  of  getting  possession  of  her  treasure. 
They  all  leave  off  digging  and  start  off  hunting  at 
the  same  time,  but  they  evidently  do  not  all  occupy 
their  absence  in  the  same  way,  for  about  half  the 
colony  come  back  empty-handed  and  try  to  rob 
those  that  are  laden.  They  even  fight  without 
any  apparent  casus  helium. 

To  feed  its  grub  with  a  succession  of  flies  until 
it  has  reached  the  stage  when  it  spins  a  cocoon  and 
pupates,  is  a  serious  responsibility  for  the  mother 
Eembex.  When  Fabre  took  a  partly  grown  larva 
from  its  cell  there  was  evidence  in  the  remains 
that  it  had  already  consumed  twenty  flies,  and  he 
gave  it  an  additional  sixty-two  as  requisite  before 
it  ceased  feeding.  It  consumed  an  average  of 
slightly  over  ten  flies  a  day.  The  Peckhams  got 
similar  results  from  their  feeding  experiments. 

The  Bembex  grub  having  finished  its  feeding 
prepares  for  its  long  period  of  inactivity  prior  to  its 
issue  as  a  perfect  wasp  by  constructing  a  strong 
cocoon.  Its  silk-glands  do  not  appear  to  afford 
sufficient  material  for  the  purpose,  but  what  it 
has  it  uses  to  the  best  advantage  as  a  cement  with 
which  it  agglutinates  grains  of  sand,  and  so  elaborates 
a  solid  structure  well  fitted  to  protect  its  tender 
body  among  the  shifting  sands,  and  to  keep  it  dry. 

A  North  American  mining  wasp,  known  as 
Sfhecius  sfieciosus,  has  been  described  by  Riley  as 


44    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

provisioning  its  cell  with  a  cicada,  an  insect  twice 
its  own  weight.  In  the  vicinity  of  moisture  the 
cicada  rapidly  becomes  mouldy,  so  the  wasp  has  to 
make  her  burrow  in  dry  earth.  Her  method  of 
getting  her  prey  from  the  place  of  its  capture  is 
ingenious  :  she  hauls  it  up  a  tree  until  she  has 
reached  a  height  sufficient  to  allow  of  her  flight 
with  it  on  a  descending  plane,  flying  up  from  the 
ground  with  such  a  load  being  a  very  difficult 
matter.  The  feeding  period  of  the  grub  only 
extends  to  about  a  week,  then  it  forms  a  cocoon  in 
which  much  earth  is  held  together  by  its  silky 
secretion. 

One  of  the  commonest  of  the  British  burrowing 
wasps  is  Mellinus  arvensis^  a  pretty  black-and- 
yellow- banded  creature  only  half  an  inch  in  the 
length  of  its  body.  It  provides  for  its  offspring 
by  supplying  its  burrows  with  two-winged  flies. 
To  catch  these  it  resorts  to  strategy.  Certain 
species  of  flies  abound  upon  cow-droppings,  upon 
which  they  feed,  and  the  congregation  of  yellow- 
brown  flies  offers  a  fine  opportunity  for  those 
insects  that  prey  upon  them.  But  the  flies  are 
very  alert,  and  fly  off  with  rapidity.  Mellinus, 
instead  of  at  once  opening  attack,  joins  the  throng 
as  though  actuated  by  similar  tastes,  and  appears 
to  have  no  other  design  than  to  share  their  repast. 
No  resentment  of  her  intrusion  is  shown,  for  there 
is  enough  for  all.  But  no  sooner  does  she  get  close 
enough  to  a  fly  to  make  her  purpose  sure,  than  she 
pounces  upon  it,  and  carries  it  off  to  her  burrow. 


MINERS  45 

Smith  says  that  Mellinus  may  at  times  be  seen 
apparently  dead  upon  the  cow-dung,  but  if  you 
watch  her  until  a  fly  conies  within  reach  she  will 
come  to  life  at  once  and  secure  her  unsuspecting  prey. 

Another  gathering-place  for  flies  is  on  the  flat 
clusters  of  umbelliferous  flowers,  such  as  wild 
carrot,  where  they  are  busy  licking  up  nectar  and 
eating  pollen.  Mellinus  sabulosus  takes  advantage 
of  such  resorts  to  get  all  the  flies  she  wants  for  her 
burrows.  Capturing  a  fly,  she  stings  it,  and  lays 
it  down  before  the  mouth  of  her  burrow  whilst 
she  turns  round  in  order  to  enter  the  burrow  back- 
wards with  her  prey.  By  taking  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  thus  afforded,  Lucas  secured  stung 
specimens  of  the  flies,  and  found  that  they  remained 
alive,  though  powerless,  for  about  six  weeks. 

In  the  genus  Cerceris  the  species  exhibit  a  most 
remarkable  sense  of  the  relationships  of  the  insects 
captured  for  the  food  of  their  young — a  sense  that 
the  classifying  entomologist  might  envy.  They  do 
not  always  restrict  their  selection  to  insects  of  one 
species,  as  bees  are  said  to  restrict  their  honey- 
gathering  to  one  species  of  plant ;  in  such  a  restric- 
tion they  might  be  guided  solely  by  form  and 
colour,  but  they  gather  species  indifferently  so 
long  as  these  are  members  of  the  same  natural  family. 

Thus,  our  own  Cerceris  arenaria  confines  its 
operations  to  beetles  of  the  weevil  family — a  vast 
family  whose  species  differ  greatly  in  size  and 
colouring.  She  is  not  guided  in  her  selection  by 
either  of  these  things,  though  the  colour  sense  in 


46    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

wasps  is  known  to  be  very  acute  ;  but  every  beetle 
selected  is  bound  to  be  a  weevil.  It  is  probable 
that,  to  the  keen  olfactory  sense  of  the  wasp,  each 
beetle  family  has  a  peculiar  clan  smell.  Cerceris 
labiata  restricts  her  attentions  to  one  particular 
species  of  beetle,  a  relation  of  the  so-called  turnip- 
flea.  See  how  in  these  matters  a  knowledge  of 
entomology  would  help  the  farmer  and  gardener, 
by  enabling  them  to  encourage  insects  that  help 
them  to  keep  down  the  numbers  of  others  that  are 
noxious.  The  species  of  Cerceris  are  regarded  by 
gardeners  as  young  specimens  of  the  ordinary  wasp, 
and  as  such  destroyed  whenever  opportunity  offers, 
whilst  weevils  and  turnip-fleas  increase  and  inflict 
real  injury  upon  garden  produce.  The  whole  of 
these  fossorial  Hymenoptera,  as  a  matter  of  eco- 
nomics, ought  to  be  religiously  protected  by  all 
interested  in  husbandry ;  for  those  that  are  bees 
are  useful  in  flower  pollination,  and  the  wasps 
destroy  large  numbers  of  plant-eating  insects. 
Some  Species  intimately  studied  by  the  Peckhams  in 
North  America  have  yielded  most  interesting  results. 
"  They  might  be  considered  the  aristocrats 
in  the  work  of  wasps,  their  habits  of  reposeful- 
meditation  and  their  calm,  unhurried  ways  being 
far  removed  from  the  nervous  manners  of  the 
Pompilidse,  or  the  noisy,  tumultuous  life  of  Bembex. 
Their  intelligence  is  shown  by  their  reluctance  to 
betray  their  nests,  and  by  their  uneasiness  at  any 
slight  change  in  the  objects  that  surround  them. 
It  is  not  necessarv  to  attempt  to  catch  them  or  to 


MINERS  47 

make  threatening  gestures  in  order  to  arouse  their 
sense  of  danger.  If  you  are  sitting  quietly  by  a 
nest  when  a  wasp  opens  her  door  in  the  morning 
she  will  notice  you  at  once,  and  will  probably  drop 
out  of  sight  as  though  she  resented  your  intrusion 
into  her  privacy.  After  a  little  she  will  come  up 
again  and  will  learn  to  tolerate  you,  but  at  the 
least  movement  on  your  part,  almost  at  the  winking 
of  an  eyelid,  she  will  disappear." 

They  all  dig  deep,  tortuous  burrows  from  which 
one  or  more  cells  branch  off,  and  these  they  stock 
with  insects.  These  cells  are  made  and  provisioned 
in  turn  ;  and  as  soon  as  one  is  filled  with  food, 
and  an  egg  laid,  it  is  closed  up.  When  they  quit 
the  nests  for  business  or  pleasure  they  leave  the 
entrance  open,  but  as  soon  as  they  return  they 
close  it  after  them  by  bringing  up  earth  from 
below.  When  they  are  away  it  is  probable  that 
access  to  the  cells  is  barred,  otherwise  they  would 
be  too  accessible  to  parasitic  enemies.  "  The 
closing  [of  the  outer  entrance]  is  sometimes  effected 
by  pushing  the  earth  up  backwards  with  the  end 
of  the  abdomen ;  but  the  hole  is  rather  too  large 
for  this  method,  and  more  frequently  the  wasp 
comes  up  head  first,  carrying  a  load  of  earth  in 
her  front  legs.  This  is  placed  just  within  and  to 
one  side  of  the  entrance,  and  then  more  armfuls 
are  brought  up,  until,  after  two  or  three  trips,  the 
opening  is  entirely  filled." 

Like  Cerceris,  the  wasps  of  the  genus  Philantkus, 
with  their  black  and  yellow  bands,  may  easily  be 


48    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

mistaken  for  ordinary  wasps.  They  provision  their 
cells  with  bees,  Andrena,  Halictus,  and  even  the 
Honey  Bee.  A  Continental  species  is  so  much 
addicted  to  onslaughts  upon  the  Honey  Bee  (Apis 
mellifica)  that  it  is  named  Pbilanthus  apivorus. 
Our  own  species,  P.  triangulum,  is  not  free  from 
this  reproach,  but  bee-masters,  who  appear  to  be 
capable  of  knowing  only  one  insect  well,  regard  it 
as  the  Common  Wasp  (Fespa  vulgaris),  and  will 
tell  you  harrowing  tales  of  the  way  in  which  the 
latter  decimates  the  hive  population.  The  bee  is 
stung  and  its  body  kneaded  in  order  to  set  free  the 
honey  it  contains.  Upon  this  the  wasp  feeds,  and 
entombs  the  remains  in  its  cell  for  the  nourishing 
of  its  grub.  Owing  to  this  habit  of  Pbilanthus, 
which  causes  the  death  of  the  bee,  it  cannot  store 
its  cells  with  sufficient  food  to  last  the  grub,  but 
has,  like  Bembex,  to  take  in  fresh  supplies  at  intervals. 
According  to  Fabre  the  burrows  of  P.  apivorus 
are  about  three  feet  in  depth — an  astonishing 
piece  of  mining  to  be  carried  out,  unaided,  by 
a  wasp  that  is  only  half  an  inch  long.  Philanthus 
punctatus,  an  American  species,  was  found  by  the 
Peckhams  to  run  into  a  bank  to  a  length  of  twenty- 
two  inches,  fourteen  of  which  ran  parallel  to  the 
surface  at  a  depth  of  eight  inches.  "  We  have  no 
doubt  that  punctatus  completely  provisions  one 
pocket  and  closes  the  opening  from  it  into  the 
gallery  before  she  starts  another,  making  a  series  of 
six  or  eight  independent  cells.  The  provision  for 
one  larva  is  probably  twelve  or  fourteen  bees,  the 


MINERS  49 

capture  of  which,  in  good  weather,  would  be  a  fair 
day's  work."  The  stinging  of  the  bees  was  the 
beginning  and  end  of  the  operation ;  they  did  not 
find  that  this  species  kneaded  her  captures  in  order 
to  obtain  honey  from  them,  nor  indeed  was  there 
any  attempt  to  remove  it.  These  wasps  have  the 
habit  of  sitting  in  the  mouth  of  their  tunnels,  with 
the  face  filling  it,  looking  out  upon  the  world  for 
some  time  before  starting  out  in  the  morning, 
appearing  as  though  considering  the  work  that  lay 
before  them  and  the  best  way  of  accomplishing  it. 

A'philantho'ps  frigidus  digs  a  shaft  eighteen  inches 
deep,  and  stores  her  cells  with  ants,  which  she 
stings  and  strips  of  their  wings.  The  shaft  has  a 
cup-shaped  opening.  In  trying  to  explore  one  of 
these  nests  in  loose  soil,  the  Peckhams  had  difficulty 
in  ascertaining  the  direction,  so  they  hit  upon  the 
expedient  of  borrowing  an  ant  that  A-philanthops 
had  dropped  in  the  doorway  whilst  she  went  in  and 
turned  round,  and  they  tied  a  thread  to  it  to  serve 
as  a  guide-line.  But  the  wasp  was  not  inclined  to 
aid  them.  She  pulled  in  the  ant  and  took  it  part 
of  the  way  down  with  the  thread  attached ;  but 
before  any  great  length  of  the  guide-line  had  been 
paid  out  the  "thread  was  seemingly  bitten  off,  as 
we  found  the  free  end  without  the  ant.  A  second 
attempt  brought  no  better  results." 

Fabre  rather  insists  upon  the  remarkable  actions 
of  these  hymenopterous  insects  as  due  to  instinct. 
They  do  these  things  because  they  cannot  help  it, 
and  some  of  his  experiments  support  this  view  ; 

4 


50    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

others,  however,  point  in  another  direction,  and 
the  Peckhams  found  that  instead  of  doing  things 
automatically  and  uniformly  there  was  a  great 
amount  of  variation  in  the  way  things  were  done  by 
the  individuals  of  any  one  species.  The  moving 
of  a  plant  near  the  covered-up  nest  would  disarrange 
the  wasp's  ideas  as  to  locality  and  set  her  hunting 
around  instead  of  going  straight  to  it. 

Some  Fossores  do  not  mine  in  the  ground,  but  in 
wood,  as  in  the  more  or  less  decayed  wood  of  tree- 
stumps  and  posts,  or  the  more  pith-like  centres  of 
bramble-stems  and  the  stalks  of  herbs.  It  seems, 
therefore,  more  appropriate  to  deal  with  these 
under  the  head  of  Carpenters,  or  workers  in  wood. 
To  that  section  of  this  work  we  will  relegate  them, 
whilst  we  consider  a  few  miners  among  the  beetles. 

The  pre-eminent  mining  beetle  is  the  Sacred 
Scarab  (Scarabceus  sacer),  whose  industry  attracted 
the  attentions  of  the  ancients,  who  saw  in  the 
movements  of  its  rolling  ball  of  food  an  emblem  of 
terrestrial  and  planetary  revolutions  and  of  other 
matters  with  which  this  work  is  not  concerned. 
For  a  great  number  of  years  stories  have  been  told 
in  natural-history  books  which  were  believed  to 
embody  the  facts  of  the  Scarab's  economy,  but  that 
terrible  M.  Fabre,  who  by  his  patient  observation 
has  set  us  right  upon  so  many  points  of  insect 
behaviour,  declares  almost  all  the  supposed  facts 
to  be  as  erroneous  as  the  ideas  of  the  ancients.  The 
careful  rolling  of  the  sphere  of  dung  and  its  subse- 
quent burial  is  true  enough,  but  it  does  not  contain 


MINERS  51 

the  egg  it  was  supposed  to.  It  is  gathered  not  to 
feed  the  beetle's  grub,  but  the  grub's  parent. 

The  Scarab  is  wonderfully  equipped  for  the  work 
it  has  to  do  as  one  of  nature's  sanitary  officers. 
Its  head  is  developed  forwards  as  a  semicircular 
plate  whose  free  edge  is  cut  up  into  six  tooth-like 
points,  and  its  front  pair  of  legs  are  without  feet 
(tarsi),  but  the  next  joint  (tibia)  is  very  large  and 
stout  and  its  edges  bear  very  bold  teeth.  The 
hindmost  pair  of  legs  are  long,  and  so  curved  that 
they  constitute  an  efficient  pair  of  callipers.  With 
its  shovel  head  and  its  fore  legs  the  Scarab  scoops 
up  and  kneads  a  mass  of  cattle  dung,  which  is 
fashioned  into  a  ball  with  the  aid  of  the  calliper 
hind  legs.  This  is  kept  on  the  roll  whilst  additions 
are  made  to  its  exterior  until  it  is  of  large  size — 
sometimes  equal  to  a  man's  closed  fist — and  of 
perfect  rotundity.  The  Scarab  pushes  it  back- 
wards, holding  it  with  the  hind  legs,  until  it  arrives 
at  what  is  considered  a  suitable  spot  of  ground. 
The  beetle  then  sets  to  work  scraping  with  its  fore 
legs  and  shovelling  the  earth  with  its  head  until  it 
has  sunk  a  pit  large  enough  to  bury  its  big  ball.  It 
then  gets  into  the  pit  besides  its  pudding  and  com- 
mences to  feed  upon  it. 

One  would  imagine,  from  the  relative  sizes  of 
beetle  and  ball,  that  more  than  half  would  be  left 
unconsumed  ;  but  the  Scarab  sticks  to  the  task, 
feeding  without  any  rest  or  other  intermission  until 
the  last  scrap  is  eaten.  Then  the  gourmand  climbs 
out  of  the  hole,  and  flies  off  to  where  the  cattle 


52    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

have  provided  a  further  supply  of  food.  Here 
another  big  ball  is  rolled  up,  and  the  same  process 
is  gone  through  again.  This  happens  in  the  spring 
and  early  summer.  During  the  hottest  part  of 
summer  the  Scarab  remains  in  the  earth  after  one 
of  these  Gargantuan  feasts,  and  enjoys  a  period  of 
repose  until  the  autumn  brings  cooler  and  moister 
days.  Then  the  Scarab  arouses  and  ventures  into 
the  world  again. 

At  this  season  the  female  Scarab  appears  to  realize 
that  she  has  a  duty  to  perform  in  the  interests  of 
her  race.  A  bigger  excavation  is  made  in  the  earth, 
and  when  it  is  completed  a  great  quantity  of  dung 
is  rolled  into  it,  and  graded.  The  coarsest  material 
is  so  arranged  that  the  grub  for  whose  food  it  is 
intended  will  not  reach  this  portion  until  its  digestive 
powers  are  well  developed.  It  will  reach  and  eat 
a  finer  grade  before  that  time ;  but  for  its  newly 
formed  jaws  and  delicate  stomach  the  mother 
Scarab  prepares  a  special  layer  by  partially  digesting 
some  of  the  food  herself.  In  this  portion  the  egg 
is  laid,  so  that  when  it  hatches,  the  young  grub 
makes  its  first  meal  of  this  specially  prepared  food. 
When  the  food  is  all  gone  the  grub  is  fully  grown, 
and  changes  into  a  chrysalis,  and  in  spring  issues 
from  its  cell  as  a  perfect  Scarab. 

The  sub-family  Coprides,  to  which  the  Scarabs 
belong,  includes  about  five  thousand  species  of 
beetles,  and  most  of  these  have  similar  habits  of 
burying  dung  for  the  sustenance  of  their  grubs. 
The  well-known  Tumble-dung  Beetle  (Ateuchus 


MINERS  53 

pilularia)  of  North  America  rolls  its  balls  of  dung 
along  to  the  shaft  it  has  prepared  for  their  reception, 
where  it  deposits  its  eggs.  These  shafts  are  declared 
by  Catesby  to  be  about  three  feet  in  depth. 

Our  own  Watchman,  Clock  or  Dor  Beetle  (Geo- 
trupes  stercorarius),  whose  blundering,  noisy  flight  is 
so  noticeable  on  summer  evenings  as  to  have  gained 
for  it  a  true  folk-name — a  very  unusual  thing  for 
beetles  to  attain  to — is  also  among  the  miners. 
Having,  by  its  acute  sense  of  smell,  received  intelli- 
gence of  a  fresh  deposit  of  dung,  she  flies  on  strong 
wings  straight  to  the  spot,  and  burrows  into  the 
mass.  She  does  not  stop  at  the  manure,  but  digs 
straight  into  the  earth  below,  forming  a  perpendicu- 
lar shaft  about  a  foot  deep.  Her  fore  legs  are  well 
adapted  for  this  work,  for  though  they  are  provided 
with  weak  feet,  the  tibia,  like  those  of  the  Scarab, 
are  strong  and  toothed  along  the  edge  used  for 
burrowing.  They  are  useful  also  for  scraping  to- 
gether the  dung  which  she  drops  down  the  shaft, 
afterwards  laying  an  egg  upon  it.  The  grub  which 
hatches  out  of  the  egg  feeds  upon  this  store. 

It  has  long  been  a  subject  for  admiring  wonder 
that  an  insect  that  deals  with  clinging  filth  should 
contrive,  as  the  Watchman  does,  to  keep  its  polished 
armour  so  clean  and  bright.  It  is  equally  remark- 
able that  the  hosts  of  soft-bodied  mites  that  crowd 
upon  the  underside  of  this  and  other  species  of 
dung  beetle  manage  to  escape  destruction  and 
retain  their  hold  during  these  burrowing  operations. 
The  smaller  Lunar  Dung  Beetle  (Geotrufes  typh&us) 


54    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

excavates  deep  burrows  on  heaths  and  carries  down 
rabbit  and  sheep  dung  to  feed  upon. 

The  smaller  beetles  of  the  genus  Afhodius  share 
with  Geotrupes  the  habit  of  sinking  shafts  and 
burying  dung  for  the  benefit  of  their  future  progeny. 
We  have  seen  these  beetles  to  the  number  of 
hundreds  swarming  on  a  patch  of  cow  dung,  and 
on  returning  that  way  a  few  hours  later  found 
scarcely  a  beetle,  but  the  patch  closely  riddled  with 
perforations  corresponding  with  as  many  shafts 
beneath,  in  which  the  beetles  were  no  doubt  very 
busy. 

Many  other  beetles  may  be  considered,  as  miners 
from  the  fact  that  they  spend  part  of  the  day  under- 
ground ;  but  as  a  rule  they  take  advantage  of 
crevices  already  existing.  There  are  some,  however, 
that  make  definite  burrows  for  themselves.  As  an 
example  of  these  mention  may  be  made  of  the 
Cockchafer  or  May-bug  (Melolontha  vulgar  is)  which, 
after  spending  about  three  years  underground  as 
grub  and  chrysalis,  and  enjoying  a  brief  spell  as  a 
creature  of  the  air,  during  which  time  she  inflicts 
serious  damage  on  the  foliage  of  trees,  at  length 
enters  the  ground  again  to  deposit  her  eggs. 

She  sinks  a  shaft  to  a  depth  of  six  or  eight  inches, 
not  going  below  the  layer  of  vegetable  mould  in 
which  the  roots  of  plants  run.  At  the  bottom  of 
the  burrow  she  lays  a  batch  of  oval  yellow  eggs 
to  the  number  of  thirty  or  forty.  These  hatch 
in  about  a  month,  and  at  first  the  grubs  feed  upon 
the  decaying  vegetable  matter  they  find  around, 


\  / 


PLATE  6 


MINERS. 


Page  54 


The  beetles  above  are  the  I.unar  Dung-beetle  and  the  green  Tiger-beetle,  both  miners 
in  the  earth.  Below,  the  light  zig-zag  marks  on  the  bramble4eaf  show  the  tracks  of 
caterpillars  of  a  small  moth  (Nepticula)  that  mine  between  the  upper  and  lower  skins. 

Photos  by  Author. 


PLATE  7 


NESTS  OF  A  MASON-WASP. 


Page  76 


This  cluster  of  cells  attached  to  a  plant  stem  are  built  up  of  mud  in  which 

small  stones  are  embedded.     They  are  each  stored  with  about  sixteen  small 

caterpillars  and  a  single  egg  of  the  mason.    Magnified  four  times. 

Photo  Ly  Author. 


MINERS  55 

but  when  they  grow  a  little  bigger  and  stronger 
they  devote  their  energies  to  the  destruction  of 
roots  of  grass  and  other  plants.  For  three  years 
they  continue  to  feed,  and  then,  being  full-grown, 
they  burrow  to  a  depth  of  about  three  feet  from 
the  surface  and  change  to  the  chrysalis  condition. 
The  grubs  are  whitish,  clumsy-looking  creatures, 
their  hinder  parts  being  so  swollen  that  they  have 
to  lie  on  their  sides  whilst  they  feed. 

The  Tiger  Beetles  (Cicindela),  of  which  one 
species  (C.  campestris)  is  among  the  most  brilliant 
of  our  beetles  as  it  flies  in  the  sunshine,  are  miners 
in  the  grub  state.  The  female  beetle  is  provided 
with  a  strong  ovipositor  with  which  she  bores  into 
the  ground  and  deposits  her  eggs.  The  grub, 
which  is  more  active  than  the  larvae  of  many  beetles, 
digs  a  straight  vertical  shaft  and  enlarges  it  to  fit 
as  he  grows.  His  head  and  the  adjoining  part  of 
his  body  are  broad  and  flat,  forming  a  sort  of 
shovel  with  which  he  carries  up  the  excavated  soil 
and  deposits  it  around  the  mouth  of  his  deep 
burrow. 

In  addition  to  his  six  legs  he  has  a  couple  of 
hooks  on  his  back  which  help  him  materially  in 
climbing  to  the  mouth  of  his  tube  and  in  supporting 
him  whilst  there.  This  is  an  important  point,  for 
he  spends  much  time  in  this  position,  his  flat  head 
acting  as  a  stopper  to  the  shaft.  Here  he  waits 
until  some  unlucky  insect  walks  across.  Then  the 
head  is  jerked  back  suddenly  and  returned  with  the 
jaws  open,  The  insect  is  seized  *uicl  tgken  to  the 


56    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

bottom  of  the  shaft,  where  its  juices  are  sucked  and 
the  innutritive  remains  hoisted  out. 

The  last  of  these  earth-miners  to  whom  reference 
will  be  made  are  the  Mole  Cricket  (Gryllotalpa 
vulgaris)  and  the  Field  Cricket  (Gryllus  cam-pestris). 
The  Mole  (Talpa  euro-pea)  is  a  wonderful  example 
amongst  mammals  of  adaptation  of  structure  to 
mode  of  life  ;  and  it  is  rather  startling  to  find 
among  insects  so  close  a  copy  of  one  of  the  higher 
animals  as  we  do  find  in  the  Mole  Cricket.  There 
is  the  same  cylindrical  form  of  body,  and  the  same 
peculiar  spade-like  development  of  the  fore  limbs 
to  render  them  serviceable  as  most  efficient  burrow- 
ing tools.  The  name  of  the  creature  is  obviously  the 
right  one ;  our  forefathers  who  bestowed  it  could 
have  had  no  difficulty  in  the  matter.  One  would 
imagine  that  the  name  would  suggest  itself  to  any 
one  who  had  seen  a  mole.  Yet  we  were  surprised 
to  learn  quite  recently  that  a  closely  allied  species 
to  our  European  Mole  Cricket  is  known  to  British 
planters  on  the  Indian  tea-gardens  as  the  Mouse 
Insect.  To  these  planters  the  fore  legs  suggested 
the  feet  of  a  rodent. 

The  Mole  Cricket  makes  horizontal  runs  much 
after  the  fashion  of  those  of  the  mole,  but  nearer 
the  surface.  The  mole's  burrows  are  to  enable  it 
to  have  a  large  extent  of  hunting-ground  where  he 
can  come  across  worms|fand  insects  such  as  the 
grub  of  the  cockchafer  lately  referred  to.  The 
Mole  Cricket  is  supposed  by  the  gardener  to  have 
roots  chiefly  in  view,  though  insects  form  part  of 


MINERS  57 

his  menu,  as  they  do  for  the  House  Cricket,  which 
has  the  reputation  of  being  a  deadly  enemy  to  the 
cockroach.  Anyhow,  in  the  South  of  England, 
where  they  occur,  Mole  Crickets  have  a  bad  reputa- 
tion with  gardeners  for  the  havoc  they  make  among 
cultivated  plants. 

Kirby  and  Spence  describe  it  as  "  a  terrible 
devastator  of  the  produce  of  the  kitchen  garden. 
It  burrows  underground,  and  devouring  the  roots 
of  plants  thus  occasions  them  to  wither,  and  even 
gets  into  hot-beds.  It  does  so  much  mischief  in 
Germany  that  the  author  of  an  old  book  on  garden- 
ing, after  giving  a  figure  of  it,  exclaims,  *  Happy  are 
the  places  where  this  pest  is  unknown  !  '  We 
have  good  reason  to  believe  that  these  eminent 
authorities  were  wrong,  and  that  far  more  good  is 
done  by  its  destruction  of  insects  than  the  harm  it 
does  by  cutting  roots. 

The  female  Mole  Cricket,  in  addition  to  her 
food-finding  burrows,  constructs  a  vertical  shaft, 
and  a  little  to  the  side  of  the  bottom  of  it  she 
hollows  out  an  oval  cell  with  smooth  and  even 
polished  walls.  In  this  cell  she  lays  her  eggs,  to 
the  number  of  several  hundreds,  and  is  said  to 
watch  over  the  young  crickets  until  they  have  shed 
their  first  skins,  after  which  they  separate  and  each 
digs  a  burrow  for  itself. 

The  Field  Cricket  (Gryllus  cam-f>estris),  which 
much  more  nearly  resembles  the  House  Cricket,  also 
burrows,  but  not  so  extensively.  Its  burrows  are 
more  for  the  purpose  of  retreat  than  for  hunting, 


58    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

and  as  its  fore  legs  are  not  modified  for  digging  like 
those  of  the  Mole  Cricket,  it  is  compelled  to  do  its 
tunnelling  with  its  jaws. 

There  is  another  group  of  Miners  to  whom 
reference  should  be  made,  although  they  mine 
not  in  the  earth,  but  in  vegetable  substances.  One 
portion  of  these  we  have  dealt  with  in  a  later 
chapter  as  Carpenters,  but  there  are  others  known 
as  Leaf-miners,  who  spend  their  larval  existence 
in  making  tortuous  burrows  in  the  soft  cellular 
tissue  (parenchyma)  of  green  leaves.  The  larvae 
that  get  a  living  by  this  industry  are  not  confined 
to  one  natural  order  ;  in  their  perfect  state  they 
are  moths,  flies,  and  beetles.  They  can  hardly  be 
classed  among  insect  pests,  for  as  a  rule  they  do  not 
destroy  a  whole  leaf,  but  they  cause  a  good  deal 
of  annoyance  to  some  gardeners  who  are  vexed  to 
see  even  one  disfigured  leaf  on  a  plant.  An  excep- 
tion to  this  remark  should  be  made  in  the  case  of  the 
Celery  Fly,  whose  larva  eats  so  much  of  the  leaf  as 
to  seriously  affect  the  storing  up  of  the  material 
that  goes  to  the  formation  of  the  firm  white  base 
of  the  leaf-stalks  for  which  the  plant  is  cultivated. 
Where  such  depredations  do  not  have  serious  effect 
the  leaves  are  those  of  trees  or  shrubs. 

The  moths  whose  larvae  mine  leaves  are  the  most 
numerous,  and  when  it  is  stated  that  in  Britain 
alone  we  have  somewhere  about  three  hundred 
and  fifty  species  of  these  lepidopterous  leaf-miners, 
it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  impossible  in  this  place  to 
do  more  than  mention  a  few  sample  species,  These 


MINERS  59 

are  all  very  small  moths — they  include  the  smallest 
known  moth— of  the  kind  that  should  one  by 
.mischance  get  into  the  house,  is  pounced  upon  as 
"  one  of  those  horrid  clothes  moths,"  though  all 
leaf-miners  are  perfectly  innocent  of  the  crimes 
perpetrated  by  clothes  moths. 

The  mines  of  some  of  these  larvae  must  be  familiar 
to  all  who  take  any  notice  of  natural  objects  in 
the  country.  Every  garden  that  contains  a  few 
rose-bushes  will  furnish  examples  ready  to  hand, 
and  outside  it  the  first  bramble- bush  will  show  us 
some  fine  examples  of  mined  leaves.  The  effect  of 
the  little  miners'  industry  is  to  clear  out  the  cellular 
matter  between  the  upper  and  lower  skins  of  the 
leaf.  The  miner  works  rather  erratically  and 
follows  a  serpentine  course,  perhaps  roughly  follow- 
ing the  margins  of  the  leaf,  sometimes  doubling 
upon  itself  and  even  crossing  an  earlier  route.  As 
one  looks  at  a  leaf  where  the  miner  has  finished, 
or  all  but  finished  his  work,  it  is  possible  to  follow 
his  course  by  observing  that  as  he  increases  in  size 
the  mine  becomes  broader. 

Mr.  Alfred  Sich,  F.E.S.,  who  has  made  a  special 
study  of  these  minute  moths,  has  given  us  from 
his  own  observations  a  sketch  of  the  life-history  of 
De  Geer's  Leaf-miner  (Ne-pticula  anomelella),  which 
he  says  scarcely  differs  from  that  published  by  De 
Geer  in  1752.  This  is  the  species  whose  mines  are 
commonly  seen  upon  the  leaflets  of  the  rose.  The 
moth  glues  her  almost  colourless  egg  to  the  under- 
side pi  the  leaf,  and  the  young  caterpillar  bores 


60    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

through  the  egg-shell  straight  into  the  substance 
of  the  leaf  without  seeing  the  direct  light  of  day. 
Making  its  way  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  cuticle 
of  the  leaf,  it  begins  its  mine  just  under  the  cuticle. 
It  is  then  less  than  one  twenty-fifth  of  an  inch  long, 
and  has  no  limbs.  Its  progress  through  the  leaf- 
material  as  it  feeds  appears  to  be  accomplished  by 
the  alternate  contraction  and  expansion  of  the 
swollen  first  three  segments  of  its  body. 

When  full-grown  the  caterpillar  has  attained  to 
the  length  of  one-fifth  of  an  inch,  and  it  has  lost 
its  appetite.  Not  wishing  to  finish  its  career  in 
the  interior  of  the  leaf,  it  cuts  a  half-circular  slit 
in  the  cuticle,  and  crawls  out.  It  then  proceeds 
to  spin  a  little  cocoon  around  itself,  probably  in 
the  angle  at  the  base  of  a  spine  on  the  rose-stem, 
where  it  changes  to  a  chrysalis,  and  a  few  weeks 
later  issues  as  a  delicate  little  moth. 

Other  species  of  the  genus  Nepticula  may  be 
found  mining  the  leaves  of  oak  (N.  atricapitilla), 
elm  (N.  viscerella  and  N.  marginicolella),  beech 
(N.  tityrella),  birch  (N.  luteella  and  N.  betulicolella), 
hawthorn  (N.  oxyacanthella,  N.  perpygm&ella,  N. 
ignobilella,  and  N.  atricolella),  bramble  (N.  splendid-' 
issimella),  hazel  (N.  floslactella  smdN.  micro theriella), 
and  many  other  plants. 

The  Laburnum  Miner  (Cemiostoma  laburnella) 
proceeds  somewhat  differently.  "  After  leaving  the 
egg,  the  caterpillar  makes  a  reddish-brown  circular 
dot,  about  one  twenty-fifth  of  an  inch  in  diameter  ; 
when  this  is  complete  it  changes  its  first  skin  and 


MINERS  61 

then   mines  out  a   very  fine   gallery,  leading   away 

from  the  blotch,  and  about  one-sixth  of  an  inch 

long.     At  the  end  of  the  gallery  it  changes  [its 

skin]  a  second  time,  after  which  it  mines  out  another 

circular   blotch   about   one-quarter   of  an  inch   in 

diameter,   which  has   a   black   appearance.     When 

this  is  complete  it  makes  a  pale  ring  round  the 

blotch  ;    in  this  it  changes  once  more,  and  then 

commences  the  last  part  of  the  mine.     The  last 

portion    forms    a    large    irregular    blotch,    which 

occupies  most  of  one  half  of  a  laburnum  leaflet,  and 

is  marked  with  many  curved  dark  lines.  .  .  .  When 

fully  grown  it  comes  out  of  the  mine  to  spin  its 

cocoon.  .  .  .  Having  found  the  right  situation,  it 

builds  a  wall  of  silken  strands  on  each  side  of  itself, 

and  then  between  the  two  walls  it  spins  a  shuttle- 

ihaped  cocoon  in  which  it  turns  to  a  pupa.     When 

mature  there  emerges  a  beautiful  white  moth  with 

black  and  yellow  rays  at  the  tip  of  the  wings.     An 

almost  similar  moth  feeds  on  the  common  broom, 

the  leaves  of  which  are  very  small  and  not  very 

numerous.     But    this    species,    Cemiostoma   sparti- 

foliella,  does  not  trouble  about  the  leaves,  but  lives 

beneath  the  bark  of   the  twigs,  where    it   makes 

long  serpentine  galleries  in  which  it  lives  throughout 

the  winter.      When  the  warm  days  of  May  come  it 

leaves  its  winter  retreat  and  spins  its  white  cocoon 

on  broom  stems.     In  a  warm  evening  in  July  the 

moths  may  be  seen  flying  in  swarms  around  the 

bushes  "  (Sich). 

Other  genera  besides  the  genus  Nepticula  share 


62    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

this  mining  habit,  and  it  is  easy  to  find  examples 
on  all  kinds  of  plants.  It  is  not  even  necessary  to 
search  for  them,  for  the  mines  in  most  cases  adver- 
tise the  presence  of  the  miner.  This,  however,  is 
not  the  case  with  one  of  the  most  plentiful  of  all, 
and  one  of  the  most  remarkable.  We  may  own 
a  poplar-tree  nearly  all  of  whose  leaves  are  tenanted 
by  the  caterpillars  of  Phyllocnistis  suffusella,  and 
never  suspect  the  fact.  We  may  see  the  evidence 
of  their  presence,  but  imagine  that  a  snail  or  slug 
had  been  crawling  over  all  the  leaves,  leaving  a 
slightly  shining  track.  These  tracks  are  really 
those  of  the  caterpillar  under  the  upper  skin.  This 
larva  differs  from  most  of  the  miners  in  the  fact 
that  he  takes  no  solid  food.  Strictly  speaking,  it  is 
perhaps  not  right  to  include  him  among  the  miners, 
for  all  he  does  is  to  sever  the  connection  of  the 
upper  cuticle  and  the  parenchyma,  and  instead  of 
eating  his  way  through  the  latter,  he  is  content  to 
suck  up  the  sap  that  flows  from  the  severed  cells. 
Upon  this  liquid  fare  he  subsists  entirely. 

When  it  changes  its  skin  the  second  time  its 
form  is  entirely  altered,  for  it  develops  a  bi-lobed 
tail  which  gives  it  a  fish-like  appearance.  At  the 
end  of  this  stadium,  as  it  is  termed,  the  caterpillar 
has  reached  the  edge  of  the  leaf,  where  it  stretches 
itself  out  and  appears  to  die  ;  but  it  is  only  another 
change.  About  a  day  later  it  has  cast  its  skin 
again,  and  now  appears  in  more  normal  caterpillar 
form,  and  white,  whereas  before  it  was  colourless. 
It  feeds  no  more,  but  has  assumed  its  new  dress 


MINERS  63 

for  the  purpose  of  spinning  its  cocoon  and  changing 
to  a  chrysalis.  In  spinning  the  cocoon  the  edge 
of  the  leaf  is  folded  down  to  conceal  it,  and  as 
you  bend  this  back  to  reveal  the  chrysalis  you 
rupture  the  delicate  cuticle,  and  may  imagine, 
as  we  long  imagined,  that  the  chrysalis  is  outside 
the  cuticle.  After  a  few  days  it  emerges  from  the 
chrysalis  as  a  beautiful  little  white- and-grey  moth. 

Respecting  the  frequency  of  these  lepidopterous 
leaf-miners,  the  following  paragraph  from  Sich 
may  be  suggestive  and  helpful  to  those  readers  who 
would  like  to  get  a  little  first-hand  knowledge  of 
these  insects.  "  Our  indigenous  trees  which  usually 
grow  in  numbers  together  afford  food  to  numerous 
species  of  leaf-miners.  For  instance,  the  oak  offers 
a  home  to  at  least  twenty-four  species,  while  the 
birch  harbours  not  fewer  than  thirty-one.  But 
the  crab-apple,  the  maple,  and  the  buckthorn  also 
have  leaf-miners  attached  to  them.  There  are 
two  species  which  we  might  even  call  needle-miners 
because  they  mine  in  the  needles  of  the  Scots  pine. 
Bramble-bushes,  honeysuckle,  and  convolvulus  have 
their  leaf-miners,  and  even  mistletoe  is  not  exempt. 
Many  low  herbs,  such  as  the  clovers  and  sorrels, 
give  shelter  to  Leaf-miners,  and  when  we  come  to 
the  grasses  and  sedges  we  find  at  least  forty  species 
which  obtain  their  nourishment  from  these  elegant 
plants." 

A  few  Leaf-miners  may  be  found  among  the 
larvae  of  beetles,  and  there  are  at  least  two  well- 
known  examples  among  the  grubs  of  two-winged 


64    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

flies.  One  of  these  is  the  Celery  Fly  (Trypeta 
0110$  or  dines),  which  also  attacks  the  leaves  of  the 
parsnip.  Probably  it  would  not  seriously  affect 
the  plant  were  its  mines  restricted  to  the  developed 
leaves  of  mature  plants,  but  it  attacks  the  tender 
leaves  of  the  seedlings  and  makes  them  sickly  or 
kills  them  right  out. 

Another  fly  with  leaf-mining  grubs  is  the  Holly- 
leaf  Fly  (Phytomyza  ilicis).  Holly-trees  are  often 
seen  to  have  scarcely  a  leaf  that  has  not  one  yellow 
blotch  upon  it,  and  often  there  are  several  blotches 
on  one  leaf,  testifying  to  the  work  of  as  many 
miners.  The  mines  are  rarely  serpentine,  but 
mostly  shapeless  patches,  the  grub  turning  about 
and  eating  the  parenchyma  as  far  as  he  can  reach 
on  all  sides  without  moving  his  hind  body.  The 
eggs  are  laid  in  summer,  and  the  grubs  go  on 
feeding  right  through  the  autumn  and  pass  the 
winter  in  the  pupa  condition,  issuing  as  small  black 
flies  at  the  beginning  of  summer. 

Even  the  larva  of  one  of  the  Sawflies  is  found 
among  the  Miners.  This  is  the  Raspberry-leaf 
Miner  (Fenusa  -pumila),  a  minute  four- winged  fly 
with  black  body  and  black- and-yellow  legs.  The 
grubs  feed  upon  the  parenchyma  in  approved  miner 
fashion,  and  are  sometimes  in  sufficient  numbers 
to  cause  alarm  to  the  small-fruit  grower.  His 
remedy  is  to  go  over  the  bushes  and  press  the 
mined  leaves  between  finger  and  thumb,  and  the 
mining  work  is  stopped. 


III 

MASONS 


Ill 

MASONS 

THOUGH  the  Masons  are  not  so  numerous  as  the 
Miners,  the  insect  world  includes  some  artizans 
who  are  very  efficient  in  the  use  of  trowel  and 
mortar,  and  some  of  them  work  with  such  fine 
regard  for  form  that  they  may  be  regarded  even  as 
art  potters.  It  is  among  the  Hymenoptera,  the 
order  that  includes  the  most  intelligent  of  the 
insect  tribes,  that  we  find  the  art  of  the  mason 
developed.  Some  of  them  are  known  as  Mason 
Wasps  and  Mason  Bees,  others  as  Mud-daubers, 
owing  to  their  preferring  solidity  to  elegance  in 
their  structures. 

Bates  found  in  the  Valley  of  the  Amazons  a 
number  of  small  bees  of  the  genus  Melipona  which 
store  honey  and  gather  pollen,  much  as  the  larger 
Honey  Bee  does.  But  the  workers  of  certain  species 
of  the  Melipona  also  gather  clay  with  which,  whether 
they  build  in  a  hollow  tree-trunk  or  in  a  bank  of 
earth,  they  completely  surround  the  nest  with  a 
solid  wall. 

In  the  South  of  Europe  there  are  several  Mason 
Bees  of  the  genus  Chalicodoma,  the  best-known  being 

67 


68    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 


• 


C.  muraria.     Reaumur  told  its  story  many  years 
ago,  and  more  recently  Fabre  has  paid  much  atten 
tion   to  it,   making  experiments  that  help   to 
understanding  of  the  order  of  its  intelligence. 

Reaumur  says  that  having  decided  upon  the  site 
of  her  nursery,  the  bee  carefully  selects  sand,  grain 
by  grain,  for  her  building  materials.  These  she 
glues  together  by  means  of  a  viscid  secretion  from 
her  mouth,  until  they  form  masses  the  size  of  small 
shot,  and  transports  them  in  her  jaws  to  the  build- 
ing site.  With  a  number  of  these,  cemented  by 
the  same  means,  she  constructs  her  foundations. 
Upon  these  she  runs  up  the  walls  of  a  thimble- 
shaped  cell,  an  inch  long  and  half  that  in  breadth. 
Before  it  is  roofed  in  she  becomes  a  gatherer  of 
pollen  and  honey  with  which  she  stocks  the  cell, 
and  lays  an  egg  in  with  it.  She  first  puts  her  head 
into  the  cell,  on  her  return  from  one  of  these 
journeys,  and  discharges  her  gathering  of  honey. 
The  pollen  has  been  collected  on  the  hairs  of  her 
lower  surface,  and  to  discharge  this  she  gets  into 
the  cell  backwards  and  cleans  the  pollen  off  in  such 
manner  that  it  falls  to  the  bottom.  When  the 
requisite  quantity  of  each  has  been  stored  she  gets 
her  head  well  into  the  cell  and  with  her  jaws  works 
up  the  honey  and  pollen  into  a  homogeneous 
paste ;  then  lays  her  egg  and  seals  up  the  top  of 
the  cell. 

The  construction  of  one  cell  takes  the  labour  of 
two  days.  Eight  or  nine  cells  are  built  one  against 
the  other  in  this  way,  and  then  the  whole  of  them 


MASONS  69 

are  coated  by  a  general  mass  of  masonry.  When 
finished  the  dome-shaped  structure  is  the  size  of 
half  an  orange.  The  outer  coating  of  all  is  composed 
of  grains  of  sand  coarser  than  those  previously 
used.  It  harmonizes  well  with  the  natural  stone 
to  which  it  is  attached,  or  on  a  close  examination 
might  be  supposed  to  be  a  daub  of  mud.  But  it 
sets  so  hard  that  it  is  with  difficulty  explored  with 
a  knife-blade. 

This  building  work  is  carried  out  in  spring,  and 
the  solidity  of  the  entire  structure  has  evident 
relation  to  the  fact  that  in  an  exposed  position  it 
has  to  protect  the  inmates  from  being  dried  up  by 
summer  heat  and  from  being  frozen  by  winter's 
cold,  for  it  is  not  until  the  following  spring  that 
the  young  bees  emerge.  Then  the  hardness  of 
the  masonry  presents  no  difficulty  to  them  :  their 
jaws  are  stout  enough  and  sharp  enough  to  pick 
it  to  pieces  and  clear  a  way  large  enough  to  permit 
their  exit.  Yet  Fabre  found  that  their  powers  in 
this  respect  were  somewhat  limited.  If  the  nests 
were  closely  surrounded  by  paper  they  cut  through 
it  as  though  it  were  part  of  their  natural  enclosure  ; 
but  if  the  paper  wall  was  so  arranged  that  it  left 
a  clear  space  between  it  and  the  nest,  they  cut 
through  the  latter,  of  course,  but  did  not  know 
how  to  deal  with  the  paper  as  a  separate  obstacle, 
and  perished  in  this  outer  prison.  The  difference 
is  probably  due,  as  suggested  by  Perez,  to  the  fact 
that  in  the  larger  space  they  do  not  know  where 
to  begin,  whilst  in  the  confined  space  of  the  cell 


70    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

they  are  bound  to  concentrate  their  efforts  upon 
one  spot. 

By  marking  some  of  these  bees  with  paint  and 
taking  them  away  to  a  distance  of  four  kilometres 
(that  is,  over  a  quarter  of  a  mile)  before  releasing 
them,  Fabre  found  that  their  homing  instinct  was 
so  good  that  they  were  back  working  on  their 
unfinished  nests  next  morning.  But  though  their 
sense  of  locality  was  thus  proved  to  be  very  good, 
he  found  that  when  he  transposed  neighbouring 
nests  they  were  unable  to  distinguish  their  own 
property,  for  a  bee  set  to  work  at  the  nest  which 
now  occupied  the  site  of  its  own  previous  labours. 
If  this  spot  was  left  blank  by  the  removal  of  the 
nest  only  a  slight  distance,  the  bee  returned  to  the 
spot  and  showed  great  concern,  but  failed  to  recog- 
nize its  nest,  though  it  had  passed  over  it  in  its 
homeward  flight. 

Some  of  the  results  of  Fabre's  experiments  were 
rather  ludicrous,  and  showed  that  the  bee  does 
not  modify  its  actions  according  to  circumstances 
as  Honey  Bees  do.  If  he  substituted  a  built  and 
partially  provisioned  cell  for  one  that  had  only  just 
been  commenced,  the  bee  would  proceed  fromj 
that  point  in  its  own  operations  at  which  it  had 
left  off,  and  would  make  the  cell  much  longer  than 
necessary ;  but  when  it  had  made  the  cell  a  thirc 
larger  it  appeared  to  realize  the  absurdity  of  its 
action  and  left  off.  If  such  a  substituted  cell  is 
already  provisioned  but  not  closed  in,  and  the  nest 
taken  away  was  beginning  to  be  filled  with  honey 


MASONS  71 

and  pollen,  the  bee  would  continue  to  pour  in 
provisions,  and  finish  by  laying  an  egg  where  there 
was  one  already. 

As  we  shall  see  in  a  later  chapter,  the  hard  cement 
of  the  Mason  Bee  does  not  secure  its  larva  against 
the  attack  of  parasites  who  eat  up  its  provisions 
and  starve  it  to  death,  or  even  eat  up  the  grub 
itself. 

Aristotle  and  Pliny  describe  the  Honey  Bee  as 
taking  the  precaution,  when  having  to  fly  home 
in  a  strong  wind,  to  ballast  itself  by  carrying  a 
small  stone.  Reaumur  supposes  that  in  this  matter 
they  were  misled  by  seeing  Chalicodoma  conveying 
one  of  the  blocks  of  masonry  she  had  constructed 
by  cementing  sand-grains  together. 

From  the  Mason  Bee  let  us  turn  to  a  considera- 
tion of  the  Mason  Wasp  (Odynerus  spinipes),  which 
chooses  for  a  building  site  the  slope  of  a  sand- bank 
where  the  sand  is  hard  and  firm,  and  therefore  to 
be  tunnelled  with  safety,  though  with  great  labour. 
Kirby  and  Spence  tell  us  picturesquely  that  "  its 
mandibles  alone  would  be  scarcely  capable  of 
penetrating  [the  hardened  sand],  were  it  not  pro- 
vided with  a  slightly  glutinous  liquor  which  it 
pours  out  of  its  mouth,  that,  like  the  vinegar  with 
which  Hannibal  softened  the  Alps,  acts  upon  the 
cement  of  the  sand,  and  renders  the  separation 
of  the  grains  easy  to  the  double  pickaxe  with  which 
our  little  pioneer  is  furnished." 

It  is  both  miner  and  mason.     It  bores  a  cylin- 
drical   cavity    two    or    three    inches    deep,    which 


72    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

branches  below  into  three  or  four  cells ;  but 
instead  of  sweeping  away  the  pellets  it  quarries,  it 
uses  them  for  building  up  around  the  mouth  of 
its  excavation  a  round  tower,  at  first  straight,  then 
curved  to  correspond  with  the  curvature  of  its 
own  body.  The  use  of  this  tower  appears  to  be 
to  make  it  difficult  for  any  parasitical  insect,  during 
its  own  absence  in  obtaining  provisions,  to  en  er 
and  lay  eggs  in  the  cavity.  It  is  only  a  temporary 
erection,  and  therefore  it  is  not  made  solid ;  the 
stones  of  which  it  is  constructed,  though  firmly 
connected,  leave  little  interstices,  as  though  it 
were  anxious  to  make  its  material  go  as  far  as 
possible. 

The  nest  is  furnished  with  a  number  of  small 
green  caterpillars  which  naturally  curl  into  a  circle 
when  alarmed.  These,  of  course,  are  first  stung, 
so  that  they  have  little  or  no  power  of  movement. 
The  egg  is  laid  in  the  far  end  of  the  cell,  so  that 
on  hatching  the  grub  first  attacks  the  caterpillar 
that  was  first  stung. 

After  filling  up  the  cell  with  from  twenty  to 
forty  small  caterpillars,  the  Mason  Wasp  takes  down 
her  tower,  stone  by  stone,  and  uses  the  material's 
for  building  up  the  mouth  of  the  nest  solidly.  The 
building  of  this  tower  is  therefore  a  fine  example 
of  economy  of  labour.  Instead  of  dropping  the 
material  excavated  from  the  hard  sand-bank  and 
having  to  collect  it  or  similar  material  again  for 
building  up  the  entrance,  she  stacks  it  ready  to 
hand,  and  in  the  doing  of  it  contrives  a  shelter 


MASONS  73 

which  protects  her  progeny  from  the  insidious 
attack  of  a  deadly  enemy.  How  like  the  operations 
of  the  human  bricklayer  who  piles  a  stack  of  bricks 
within  reach  of  his  hand  from  which  he  can  take 
them  as  wanted  for  building  his  wall ! 

The  "  deadly  enemy  "  referred  to  above  is  the 
brilliant  little  Ruby-tail  Wasp  (Cbrysis  ignita),  whose 
head  and  thorax  are  blue  or  green  in  different 
aspects,  and  the  hind  body  red  and  gold,  the  entire 
body  having  a  metallic  polish  that  makes  the  little 
creature  glow  and  flash  in  the  sunshine.  These 
wasps  make  no  nests  of  their  own,  but  are  always 
on  the  watch  for  more  industrious  species  that  are 
provisioning  theirs,  and  whilst  the  Mason  is  away 
hunting  they  pop  in  and  leave  an  egg  of  their  own. 
The  Cbrysis  grub  sucks  the  grub  of  the  Mason 
Wasp  dry,  or  in  some  cases  eats  up  the  food  and 
leaves  the  rightful  occupant  of  the  nest  to  die  of 
starvation.  It  appears  to  be  mainly  against  the 
Ruby-tail  that  Odynerus  builds  her  temporary 
towers ;  but  Wood  Ants  (Formica  rufa)  have  in 
some  districts  to  be  guarded  against  also. 

Some  of  these  Mason  Wasps  of  the  same  genus 
(Odynerus)  carry  their  labour-saving  ideas  farther, 
and  look  out  for  defects  in  human  masonry.  Where 
a  chink  has  been  left  in  the  mortar  they  enter  and 
enlarge  it,  making  it  symmetrical  as  they  would 
have  done  had  they  begun  the  excavation.  Others 
adapt  key-holes,  nail-holes,  or  any  other  perfora- 
tions that  are  large  enough,  or  can  be  made  large 
enough  by  a  little  manipulation.  In  some  cases  it  is 


74    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

the  other  way  about,  and  they  have  to  partially 
block  up  a  crevice  that  would  be  otherwise  incon- 
veniently roomy.  Whatever  the  Mason's  length 
may  be,  its  breadth  is  very  little,  and  it  contrives 
the  burrow  to  have  only  sufficient  "  elbow-room." 
There  are  many  inquisitive  birds  about  with  a 
taste  for  fat  little  grubs,  and  the  smaller  the  entrance 
holes  to  nests  the  safer  for  the  defenceless  grub. 
Ichneumon  flies  with  long,  slender  ovipositors, 
and  other  parasitical  insects  of  their  own  order, 
have  to  be  guarded  against  so  far  as  possible ;  but 
the  latter  are  the  more  subtle,  and  often  succeed 
in  introducing  their  own  eggs  to  the  utter  ruin  of 
the  Mason  Wasp's  plans.  If  the  parasite  does  not 
begin  by  eating  up  its  host,  it  devours  all  the  pro- 
visions and  allows  the  host  to  perish  by  starvation. 

One  species,  Odynerus  reniformis,  described  by 
Fabre,  hangs  its  egg  from  the  roof  of  the  cell  by  a 
silk  thread,  a  provision  to  protect  the  newly  hatched 
grub  from  being  crushed  by  movements  of  the 
score  or  so  of  small  caterpillars  that  are  placed 
inside  after  the  egg  is  laid.  From  the  egg-shell  the 
young  grub  can  reach  down  to  its  first  caterpillar, 
and,  about  twenty-four  hours  later,  when  this  'is 
devoured,  the  grub  is  believed  to  cast  its  skin  and 
to  be  sufficiently  strong  to  take  care  of  itself  among 
the  only  partially  stupefied  caterpillars.  It  eats 
them  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  brought  in. 

Let  readers  who  share  the  common  enmity  to 
wasps  of  all  sorts  bear  in  mind  these  facts  about 
their  utilization  of  caterpillars.  Let  such  consider 


MASONS  75 

how  long  it  would  take  them  to  hunt  for  and 
destroy  ten  dozen  small  caterpillars,  that  are  the 
exact  tint  of  the  leaves  upon  which  they  feed. 
This  is  the  number  that  one  of  these  Mason  Wasps 
will  requisition  for  the  provisioning  of  the  cells  in 
one  of  these  interesting  structures.  Every  such 
wasp  that  is  wantonly  killed  means  that  number 
of  caterpillars  allowed  to  grow  and  do  incalculable 
damage  to  the  choice  plants  of  our  gardens,  it 
may  be.  Almost  certainly,  if  a  wasp  is  killed  in 
our  garden,  it  was  there  on  a  hunting  expedition, 
and  it  is  our  garden  that  will  suffer  for  our  ignorant 
folly. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  the  choice  of  a  par- 
ticular insect  for  the  nourishment  of  her  grub  is  a 
merely  arbitrary  proceeding  on  the  part  of  the 
parent ;  but  a  circumstance  narrated  by  the  Peck- 
hams  throws  doubt  on  such  a  supposition.  They 
had  opened  a  cell  of  Odynerus  conformis,  and  in 
doing  so  had  lost  all  but  one  of  the  caterpillars  it 
contained.  The  grub  "  hatched  on  the  morning 
after  we  had  received  it,  sloughing  off  the  skin 
of  the  egg,  but  remaining  attached  to  it,  and  thus 
doubling  the  length  of  the  thread  by  which  it 
hung.  The  caterpillar  was  slightly  separated  from 
it,  and  it  seemed  to  have  no  notion  of  feeling  about 
for  its  food,  eating  nothing  for  twenty-four  hours, 
but  growing  and  developing  nevertheless.  We  now 
piled  up  some  caterpillars  in  contact  with  it,  and 
it  began  to  eat,  but  after  its  own  caterpillar  and  as 
many  as  we  dared  take  from  [a  nest  of  0.]  anormis 


76    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

were  gone,  it  stubbornly  refused  to  take  soft, 
tender  little  spiders,  or  caterpillars  out  of  our 
garden  ;  and  it  perished,  a  victim  to  prejudice." 

The  Wall  Mason  (Odynerus  parietum)  appears  to 
be  fond  of  proximity  at  least  to  human  beings,  for 
its  nests  are  commonly  constructed  on  the  walls 
of  houses,  sometimes  in  the  angles  of  the  window- 
frames,  but  often  on  the  seams  of  mortar  between 
the  bricks.  She  uses  sand  and  mud,  and  mixes 
them  with  her  own  mouth-cement,  which  causes 
them  to  set  like  mortar.  Sometimes  she  uses  the 
"  pointing  "  of  the  human  mason  or  bricklayer,  if 
this  is  not  so  rich  in  cement  as  to  defy  her  jaws. 
Whatever  the  material,  she  turns  it  into  cylindrical 
cells,  which  are  usually  joined  end  to  end,  so  that 
we  get  a  continuous  round-backed  ridge  on  the 
wall.  Each  of  these  cells  she  stocks  with  green 
caterpillars  in  turn.  Where  she  is  engaged  on  her 
building  operations,  the  Ruby-tail  may  usually 
be  seen  as  an  interested  spectator,  watching  for 
her  opportunity  to  bring  the  Mason's  labours  to 
naught. 

A  little-known  species — Geramius  lusitanicus— 
found  in  the  Mediterranean  region,  makes  its  nests 
in  the  earth  and  connects  them  by  a  gallery  two 
and  a  half  inches  long.  It  renders  this  gallery  diffi- 
cult of  access  to  enemies  by  erecting  a  chimney-like 
porch  after  the  manner  of  Odynerus.  This  pre- 
caution is  very  necessary  in  this  case,  because  the 
cells  are  not  provisioned  and  sealed  up,  but  the 
larva  is  fed  more  like  those  of  the  Social  Wasps 


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MUD-DAUBERS. 


Page  82 


In  the  upper  photo  an  unfinished  "  daub  "  is  shown  with  a  single  cell  standing 

out  from  the  mass,  to  illustrate  the  fact  that  all  the  cells  are  made  separately, 

the  interstices  being  filled  in  afterwards  and  the  whole   mass  finished  with 

a  tolerably  even  surface  as  in  the  lower  photo. 

Photos  by  Autlwr. 


MASONS  77 

by  the  mother  bringing  them  food  from  time  to 
time.  This  food  consists  of  a  paste  resembling 
dried  honey. 

The  plan  of  suspending  the  egg  by  a  thread  from 
the  roof  of  the  cell  is  also  adopted  by  Eumenes, 
another  genus  of  Mason  Wasps,  of  which  we  have 
a  single  British  representative — Eumenes  coarctata. 
This  is  the  mason  to  whom  we  alluded  as  having 
advanced  to  the  status  of  art  potter,  for  its  nests — 
often  attached  to  the  stems  of  heath  plants— take 
the  form  of  low,  round  vases,  with  short  neck  and 
turned-out  lip.  The  nest  is  made  of  clay  tempered 
with  the  wasp's  own  cement,  and  it  consists  of  a 
single  cell  which,  before  the  mouth  is  closed,  is 
stocked  with  caterpillars  and  the  wasp's  egg.  Some- 
times it  is  placed  on  a  broader  surface  than  the 
twigs  of  a  shrub  afford,  and  in  that  case  loses  some 
of  its  grace,  the  bottom  being  flat  to  give  it  a  better 
hold. 

Eumenes  arbustorum  and  E.  pomiformis  show  that 
they  are  true  Masons  by  building  into  the  walls 
of  their  nests  small  stones,  so  that  they  have  the 
appearance  of  having  been  built  up  of  stones  with 
clay  to  hold  them  together.  (See  Plate  7  for 
nests  of  E.  pomiformis.)  E.  pomiformis  occurs  in  the 
South  of  France,  and  Fabre,  apparently  describ- 
ing this  species,  says  that  the  fourteen  or  sixteen 
caterpillars  with  which  the  nest  is  provisioned  are 
only  slightly  affected  by  the  stinging  (if,  as  believed, 
they  are  stung),  for  they  are  able  to  use  their 
jaws  and  to  kick  out,  as  it  were,  with  the  hinder 


78    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

part  of  the  body.  This  power  of  movement  would 
make  them  dangerous  company  for  a  delicate  egg 
placed  among  them,  or  even  for  a  newly  hatched 
grub. 

Here,  then,  is  the  reason  why  the  egg  is  suspended. 
Should  it  be  struck  by  the  movements  of  one  of 
the  caterpillars,  it  would  swing  out  of  the  way 
like  a  pendulum,  and  the  newly  hatched  and  tender 
grub  can  feed  in  safety  from  its  swinging  perch.  A 
remarkable  point  in  this  connection,  showing  how 
several  items  are  correlated,  is  the  way  in  which 
the  egg-shell  splits  up  on  hatching.  From  the 
point  of  attachment  of  the  suspensory  thread  it 
splits  into  a  sort  of  ribbon  which  in  effect  lengthens 
the  thread  and  enables  the  grub  to  get  nearer  to 
its  food. 

Eumenes  unguiculata,  though  it  fashions  a  less- 
regular  vase,  provides  three  cells  in  the  interior, 
each  of  which  has  its  egg  and  its  store  of  cater- 
pillars. An  Indian  species,  Eumenes  conica,  makes 
the  mistake  of  constructing  its  nest  with  walls  so 
thin  that  a  parasite  readily  pierces  them  to  lay 
its  eggs.  For  this  reason  only  two  wasps  were 
reared  from  a  group  of  five  cells,  the  parasites 
having  destroyed  the  other  three. 

Several  species  of  Try  poxy  Ion  (all  the  species  are 
Masons)  construct  nests  much  after  the  pattern 
of  Eumenes.  One  of  these  is  mentioned  by  Bates 
in  the  account  of  his  natural  history  exploration 
of  the  Amazons.  He  says  : 

"  Their  habits  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Pelofiaus  : 


MASONS  79 

namely,  they  carry  off  the  clay  in  their  mandibles, 
and  have  a  different  song  when  they  hasten  away 
with  the  burthen  from  that  which  they  sing  whilst 
at  work.  Try  poxy  Ion  albitarse,  which  is  a  large 
black  kind,  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  length, 
makes  a  tremendous  fuss  whilst  building  its  cell. 
It  often  chooses  the  walls  or  doors  of  chambers  for 
this  purpose,  and  when  two  or  three  are  at  work 
in  the  same  place  their  loud  humming  keeps  the 
place  in  an  uproar.  T.  aurifrons,  a  much  smaller 
species,  makes  a  neat  little  nest  shaped  like  a  carafe  ; 
building  rows  of  them  together  in  the  corners  of 
the  verandahs." 

In  Hawaii  several  species  of  Odynerus  construct 
single-celled  nests  similar  to  those  of  Eumenes,  but 
more  cylindrical  than  spherical.  They  are  fond  of 
making  these  in  a  leaf  that  has  been  curled  up 
already  by  a  spider  to  serve  as  a  nursery  for  her 
young  ones,  and  in  addition  the  young  of  a  certain 
species  of  snail  (Achatinella)  like  to  crowd  into  the 
same  refuge ;  so  that,  as  Mr.  R.  C.  L.  Perkins  tells 
us,  you  may  find  a  curled  leaf  occupied  by  these 
three  kinds  of  tenants  at  the  same  time. 

Mr.  Bates  tells  us  how  another  Mason  Wasp 
utilizes  the  .same  clay-pit  at  Santarem,  on  the 
Amazon,  from  which  the  human  inhabitants  obtain 
clay  for  making  their  pottery. 

"  The  most  conspicuous  was  a  large  yellow-and- 
black  wasp,  with  a  remarkably  long  and  narrow 
waist,  the  Pelo-p&us  fistularis.  It  collected  the  clay 
in  little  round  pellets,  which  it  carried  off,  after 


8o    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

rolling  them  into  a  convenient  shape,  in  its  man- 
dibles. It  came  straight  to  the  pit  with  a  loud 
hum,  and  on  alighting  lost  not  a  moment  in  begin- 
ning its  work,  finishing  the  kneading  of  its  little 
load  in  two  or  three  minutes.  The  nest  of  this 
species  is  shaped  like  a  pouch,  two  inches  in  length, 
and  is  attached  to  a  branch  or  other  projecting 
object. 

"  One  of  these  restless  artificers  once  began  to 
build  on  the  handle  of  a  chest  in  the  cabin  of  my 
canoe,  when  we  were  stationary  at  a  place  for 
several  days.  It  was  so  intent  upon  its  work  that 
it  allowed  me  to  inspect  the  movements  of  its 
mouth  with  a  lens  whilst  it  was  laying  on  the 
mortar.  Every  fresh  pellet  was  brought  in  with  a 
triumphant  song,  which  changed  to  a  cheerful 
busy  hum  when  it  alighted  and  began  to  work. 
The  little  ball  of  moist  clay  was  laid  on  the  edge 
of  the  cell,  and  then  spread  out  around  the  circular 
rim  by  means  of  the  lower  lip,  guided  by  the 
mandibles.  The  insect  placed  itself  astride  over 
the  rim  to  work,  and  on  finishing  each  addition 
to  the  structure,  took  a  turn  round,  patting  the 
sides  with  its  feet  inside  and  out  before  flying 
off  to  gather  a  fresh  pellet.  It  worked  only. in 
sunny  weather,  and  the  previous  layer  was  some- 
times not  quite  dry  when  the  new  coating  was 
added.  The  whole  structure  takes  about  a  week 
to  complete. 

"  I  left  the  place  before  the  gay  little  builder  had 
quite  finished  her  task  :  she  did  not  accompany  the 


MASONS  8  r 

canoe,  although  we  moved  along  the  bank  of  the 
river  very  slowly.  On  opening  closed  nests  of  this 
species,  ...  I  always  found  them  to  be  stocked 
with  small  spiders  of  the  genus  Gastracantha,  in 
the  usual  half-dead  state  to  which  the  mother 
wasps  reduce  the  insects  which  are  to  serve  as  food 
for  their  progeny." 

In  the  light  of  Fabre's  experiments  to  ascertain 
the  sense  of  locality  possessed  by  wasps,  it  is  no 
wonder  that  Bates's  wasp  did  not' follow  the  canoe. 
She,  no  doubt,  hunted  anxiously  for  her  nest  in 
the  place  where  the  canoe  had  been ! 

The  species  mentioned  is  related  to  the  Sand 
Wasp  (Ammophila)  described  in  the  previous  chap- 
ter. Many  species  of  Sceliphron  (in  which  genus 
Pelofaus  is  now  merged)  are  known  in  various  parts 
of  the  world  as  Mud-daubers.  It  is  scarcely  a 
nice  way  of  referring  to  skilled  artizans,  but  the 
name  may  be  regarded  as  a  note  of  resentment  on 
the  part  of  householders  who  do  not  regard  the 
often  large  masses  of  wasp-masonry  exactly  as  orna- 
ments to  their  doors,  windows,  and  parlour  walls. 
It  is  remarkable  that  so  many  of  them  should 
manifest  this  preference  for  human  habitations. 

Fabre  mentions  one  (Scelipbron  spirifex)  that  of 
all  places  for  its  nesting-site  selects  a  nook  in  the 
broad  open  fireplace  of  the  peasants  of  Southern 
Europe,  where,  although  safe  from  the  flames,  it 
is  not  free  from  smoke.  In  spite  of  cooking  opera- 
tions that  may  be  in  progress  the  wasp  flies  in  and 
out,  between  its  nest  and  the  outdoor  source  of 
6 


82    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

the  clay  or  mud  it  needs  for  its  building.  In  most 
species  of  this  genus  the  large  cells  are  formed  one 
against  another,  in  number  varying  from  ten  to 
fifty,  and  the  whole  are  consolidated  into  one 
mass  by  plastering  further  mud  or  clay  into  the 
intervening  spaces  and  rounding  the  composite 
structure  off.  It  stores  the  cells  with  small  spiders, 
and  appears  to  kill  these  outright  by  its  sting. 
When  the  first  of  the  series  is  dropped  into  the 
cell  the  egg  is  laid  on  it,  so  that  the  wasp  grub 
begins  to  feed  on  the  least  fresh  of  its  food,  and 
has  to  work  through  the  whole  series  before  de- 
composition begins,  though  one  might  suppose 
this  would  not  take  long  in  a  fireplace.  Spirifex 
on  an  average  allows  eight  spiders  to  each  grub, 
and  these  are  consumed  in  about  ten  days. 

Some  of  these  Scdiphrons  have  learned  to  disguise 
their  carefully  constructed  nests.  Thus,  an  Indian 
species  (S.  madraspatanus),  that  comes  into  houses 
and  decorates  walls  and  furniture  with  its  nests, 
appears  to  be  desirous  of  meriting  the  name  of 
Mud-dauber,  for  after  the  nest  is  complete  as  a 
comfortable  habitation  for  the  grubs,  she  some- 
times gives  a  few  artistic  touches  in  the  shape  of 
radiating  streaks  of  mud,  which  make  it  look  as 
though  a  handful  of  mud  had  been  thrown  against 
the  wall  and  had  splashed.  There  are  only  from 
four  to  six  cells  in  this  nest,  and  each  cell  as  a  rule 
contains  a  score  of  spiders. 

An  Australian  species  (Scelifhron  l&tus),  whose 
habits  are  very  similar,  adds  to  the  finished  nest  a 


MASONS  83 

few  diagonal  streaks  of  mud,  which  make  the  whole 
affair  look  like  a  piece  of  acacia  bark.  Although  a 
piece  of  bark  looks  out  of  place  on  the  wall  of  a 
house,  it  may  be  presumed  that  before  the  wasp 
developed  a  liking  for  human  society  it  was  in  the 
habit  of  placing  its  nests  on  tree-trunks. 

In  parts  of  the  United  States  the  people  suffer 
annoyance  from  the  similar  habits  of  another 
species  of  Sceliphron,  and  Burbidge  figures  one 
that  he  met  with  in  Labuan,  of  which  he  says : 
"  One  of  the  most  common  and  interesting  of  the 
domestic  insects  is  the  '  Mason  Wasp,'  a  large 
yellow  species  which  constructs  a  series  of  mud 
cells  or  a  gallery  of  earth  against  the  woodwork  of 
the  verandah  or  roof.  In  each  cell,  as  completed, 
an  egg  is  deposited,  and  ere  closing  up  the  cavity 
it  is  stuffed  full  of  green  caterpillars,  which  are 
then  sealed  up  alive  to  serve  as  food  for  her  larva 
when  hatched  out." 

Mr.  W.  H.  Hudson,  when  in  La  Plata,  suffered 
from  the  pertinacity  with  which  these  mud-daubers 
would  enter  his  dwelling,  and  his  admiration  for 
the  beautiful  mason  and  her  industry  was  swallowed 
up  in  his  disgust  with  her  methods  of  filling  her 
cells.  He  says  : 

"  These  insects,  with  a  refinement  of  cruelty, 
prefer  not  to  kill  their  victims  outright,  but  merely 
to  maim  them,  then  house  them  in  cells  where 
the  grubs  can  vivisect  them  at  leisure.  This  is 
one  of  those  revolting  facts  the  fastidious  soul 
cannot  escape  from  in  warm  climates ;  for  in  and 


84    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

out  of  open  windows  and  doors,  all  day  long,  all 
the  summer  through,  comes  the  busy,  beautiful 
Mason  Wasp.  A  long  body,  wonderfully  slim  at 
the  waist,  bright  yellow  legs  and  thorax,  and  a  dark 
crimson  abdomen — what  object  can  be  prettier  to 
look  at  ? 

"  But  in  her  life  this  wasp  is  not  beautiful.  At 
home  in  summer  they  were  the  pests  of  my  life, 
for  nothing  would  serve  to  keep  them  out.  .  One 
day  while  we  were  seated  at  dinner,  a  clay  nest, 
which  a  wasp  had  succeeded  in  completing  un- 
observed, detached  itself  from  the  ceiling  and  fell 
with  a  crash  to  the  table,  where  it  was  shattered 
to  pieces,  scattering  a  shower  of  green  half -living 
spiders  round  it.  I  shall  never  forget  the  feeling  of 
intense  repugnance  I  experienced  at  the  sight, 
coupled  with  detestation  of  the  pretty  but  cruel 
little  architect." 

In  some  cases  a  Flesh  Fly  (Sarcophaga)  has  noted 
the  stores  of  spiders  and  insects  being  taken  in, 
and  has  concluded,  that  they  offer  a  good  oppor- 
tunity for  the  disposal  of  a  few  of  her  own  eggs. 
The  result  is  that  the  Mud-dauber  grub  perishes 
for  want  of  food,  and  a  like  fate  awaits  the  Flesh 
Flies  owing  to  their  inability  to  break  through  the 
thick  walls  of  their  prison. 

Very  similar  to  the  constructions  of  these  "  Mud- 
dauber  "  Mason  Wasps  are  those  of  an  Indian  bee 
(Megachile  lanata),  closely  allied  to  our  Leaf -cutter 
Bee  (M.  centuncularis),  and  strange  to  say  it  agrees 
with  these  wasps  also  in  its  liking  for  human  dwell- 


MASONS  85 

ings ;  but  it  looks  out  for  some  cavity  or  recess  in 
which  to  place  the  nest.  This  is  composed  of  clay 
or  mud,  and  if  space  allows,  several  cells  are  placed 
side  by  side.  During  the  latter  part  of  "  the 
rains  "  all  things  in  an  Indian  household  that  have 
small  cavities  require  to  be  carefully  looked  after, 
or  the  said  cavities  will  be  plugged  up  by  this  bee, 
whether  they  be  rifle-barrels,  bamboo  rods,  punkha 
holes  in  the  wall,  or  the  hollow  revealed  in  the  back 
of  a  book  that  is  left  open  on  the  table. 

The  species  of  Agenia — which  are  closely  allied  to 
Pompilus,  the  burrowing  Spider  Wasp — are  of  the 
potter  branch  of  the  mason  industry.     Two  Euro- 
pean species  (one  of  them   British)  make  vase-like 
nests  which  they  hide  in  tree-hollows,  wall-holes, 
and    similar    places.     Agenia    carbonaria,   which   is 
found  in  the  South  of  England,  contrives  a  nest 
much  like  a  wide-mouthed  bottle  ;   but  it  is  not 
so   accomplished   in   the   potter's   art    as   some   of 
those  we  have  mentioned,  for  it  does  not  appear 
to  have  learned  the  secret  of  kneading  its  materials 
with   saliva,    and   so    they   have   not    the    proper 
permanency.     For  this  reason  they  are  not  placed 
in  exposed  situations  where  the  weather  would  soon 
crumble  them.     The  little  wasp  has  learned  that 
such   material   would   not   be   waterproof,   and   so 
she  takes  care  to  line  the  nest  inside  with  a  coating 
of  glaze,  probably  supplied  by  her  mouth,  which 
serves  to  keep  the  contents  dry.     The  cell  is  pro- 
visioned with  spiders  which  are  paralyzed  by  biting 
instead  of  stinging,  and  their  limbs  are  broken. 


86    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

Ccelonites  abbreviates  constructs  tubular  earthen 
cells,  which  are  attached  in  small  groups  to  the  dry 
stems  of  plants,  with  the  mouths  downwards. 
They  are  provisioned  by  the  mother  wasp  with  a 
paste  said  to  resemble  dried  honey — probably  a 
mixture  of  honey  and  pollen. 

One  of  these  Mason  Wasps  (Abis'pa)  that  is 
peculiar  to  Australia  is  much  like  a  large  Odynerus. 
Its  beautifully  constructed  nest  is  so  large  that  it 
might  be  thought  to  be  the  combined  effort  of  a 
colony  of  Social  Wasps,  but  it  is  entirely  the  work 
of  one  female.  The  entrance  to  it  takes  the  form 
of  a  projecting  funnel. 

The  East  Indian  Rhygchium  nitidulum  makes 
clay  pots,  like  Eumenes,  and  stores  them  with  cater- 
pillars. The  pots  are  attached  to  wood.  Of  an 
allied  species — R.  brunneum — Sir  Richard  Owen 
complained  that  it  obliterates  Egyptian  hiero- 
glyphics by  plastering  its  mud  cells  among  them. 
Some  thousands  of  years  ago,  when  an  ancient 
Egyptian  was  being  converted  into  a  mummy,  one 
of  these  wasps  had  the  fortune  to  be  wrapped 
up  with  him.  When,  in  later  times,  Dr.  Birch, 
of  the  British  Museum,  unrolled  the  wrappings  of 
that  mummy  the  wasp  came  to  light,  to  prove 
that  Rhygchium  brunneum  was  an  ancient  Egyptian 
also. 

The  most  important  of  the  insect  masons  we 
have  reserved  to  the  last — the  Termites  or  "  white 
ants."  It  is  probably  unnecessary,  at  this  date,  to 
explain  that  these  insects  are  not  ants  at  all,  and 


PLATE   10        NESTS  OF  TERMITES  OR  "  WHITE  ANTS."      Page  86 

These  huge  erections  are  sometimes  20  feet  in  height,  and  represent  the  labour 
of  many  generations  of  builders.     The  one  in  the  foreground  has  been  cut  open  to 
show  the  galleries  and  passages  of  the  interior,  which  are  not  so  well-planned  and 
symmetrical  as  was  formerly  believed  to  be  the  case. 

Drawn  by  T.  Carreras. 


I 


The  Queen  Termite  is  the  mother  of  the  hill-nest.     Her  body,  here  shown  of  the 
natural  size,  is  bloated  with  eggs,  of  which  she  lays  many  thousands  per  day. 


PLATE  i i 


TERMITES  OR  "  WHITE  ANTS." 


Page 


In  the  lower  illustration  the  upper  figure  is  that  of  a  winged  male ;    below  to  the 
left  is  a  soldier  and  to  the  right  a  worker. 


MASONS  87 

are  not  more  closely  related  to  ants  than  a  bee  is 
to  a  butterfly.  The  popular  name,  no  doubt,  was 
suggested  because  of  some  similarity  in  their  social 
habits  and  marvellous  organization,  their  permanent 
communities,  and  their  care  of  the  young.  Their 
forms  are  quite  unlike,  and  whereas  the  ant  is 
encased  in  a  hard  and  polished  chitinous  exterior, 
the  termite  is  soft-bodied  and  pale,  its  integument 
apparently  painfully  sensitive  to  the  action  of 
light,  judging  from  the  care  it  takes  to  live  and 
work  always  in  darkness.  It  is  to  this  latter  sensi- 
tiveness that  its  supremacy  as  a  mason  and  builder 
is,  in  all  probability,  due. 

In  one  respect  they  do  resemble  ants — and  hive 
bees — that  is,  in  addition  to  males  and  females, 
there  is  a  far  more  numerous  sexless  class  upon 
whom  devolves  all  the  activities  of  the  community, 
save  only  that  of  reproduction.  But  there  is  this 
difference  between  the  sexless  forms  of  termites 
and  those  of  most  ants,  that  in  the  former  there  is 
a  further  division  into  workers  and  soldiers.  This 
is  not  any  arbitrary  assignment  of  duties  by  the 
community,  it  is  a  distinction  enforced  by  nature, 
for  both  worker  and  soldier  are — like  poets — born 
as  such,  not  made. 

Both  soldiers  and  workers  are  blind,  but  in  spite 
of  this  fact  they  are  very  sensitive  to  light.  The 
workers  are  well  named,  for  upon  them  devolves 
all  the  labours  of  the  community — the  erection, 
repair,  and  extension  of  the  termitarium  or  hill,  the 
care  of  the  eggs  and  young,  the  prison  care  of  the 


88    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

so-called  royal  couple,  who  have  none  of  the  pre-* 
rogatives  of  human  royalties. 

The  soldiers  also  are  well  named,  for,  like  the 
rank  and  file  in  our  armies,  their  duty  is  to  sacrifice 
their  lives  for  those  who  feed  them.  They  were 
formerly  thought  to  be  formidable  and  pugnacious, 
but  like  the  old-style  Chinese  army,  accoutred  to 
make  themselves  appear  hideous  and  so  frighten 
their  opponents  at  sight,  these  soldier  Termites 
are  not  nearly  so  formidable  as  they  look.  They 
are  characterized  by  the  great  size  of  the  head — in 
some  species  this  is  larger  than  the  body — which  is 
either  developed  into  long  spines  and  spears,  or 
the  jaws  are  increased  to  an  enormous  length.  But 
all  they  can  do  when  the  termitarium  is  broken  into 
is  to  seize  the  intruder  with  their  jaws  and  hang 
on  till  they  are  destroyed,  what  time  the  more 
important  workers  are  getting  safely  away  into  the 
narrow  galleries  and  underground  chambers  where 
no  enemy  can  follow  them. 

There  are  many  species  of  Termites,  and  in  the 
space  at  our  disposal  it  is  •  impossible  to  give  any 
detailed  account  of  them — a  general  statement  of 
their  work  as  masons  must  suffice.  They  get  their 
living,  it  is  true,  as  carpenters  in  the  sense  that  they 
cut  up  and  consume  as  food  timber  and  other 
vegetable  substances ;  but  in  constructive  work 
they  are  masons.  They  drive  mines  and  tunnels  of 
great  length  underground,  connecting  hill  to  hill, 
but  these  tunnels  are  lined  with  masonry,  and  their 
communities  are  housed  in  the  huge  permanent 


MASONS  89 

structures  known  as  ant-hills  or  termitaria.  These 
are  built  of  earth  and  excrement  mixed  with  salivary 
secretions  which  cause  the  compost  to  set  into  a 
mass  of  stony  hardness. 

So  strong  are  these  erections — varying  from  a 
height  of  a  few  feet  to  more  than  twenty  feet — 
that  they  are  used  as  a  guard  post  by  bull  buffaloes 
keeping  watch  over  the  cows  that  feed  around. 
Sportsmen  use  them  as  safe  towers  from  which  they 
can  shoot  big  game  in  Africa,  and  Smeathman  tells 
how  himself  and  four  others  used  such  an  erection 
as  a  look-out  for  passing  ships.  When  the  small 
size  of  the  Termites  is  compared  with  the  height 
of  their  buildings,  we  realize  that  these  insects 
were  the  original  inventors  of  the  "  sky-scraper," 
only  the  Termites  are  wiser  and  more  artistic  than 
their  human  imitators,  for  they  mostly  build  in 
pyramidal  form  with  a  broad  base  instead  of  the 
hideous  straight-sided  excrescences  that  mar  the 
sky-line  in  American  cities. 

The  form  of  the  termitaria  is  varied  by  the 
different  species,  and  to  some  extent  according  to 
situation.  Some  species  scarcely  come  under  the 
designation  of  masons,  since  they  construct  nests 
of  more  papery  material  on  the  upper  branches  of 
trees.  But  of  those  that  are  indubitable  masons 
some  roof  their  cities  with  cupolas,  some  favour 
the  Gothic  style  of  architecture  and  run  off  into 
innumerable  spires.  An  Australian  species — known 
as  the  "  Compass  Ant " — builds  wedge-shaped  stnu> 
£ures  whose  broad  faces  always  look  east  and 


90    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

The  older  travellers  told  of  the  invariable  planning 
out  of  the  interior  into  definite  halls,  royal  apart- 
ments, nurseries,  food  stores,  etc.,  and  their  sectional 
elevations  were  copied  into  all  the  natural-history 
works  of  the  last  century,  just  as  were  those  of 
the  "  mole's  fortress,"  which  looked  like  an  iron 
casting.  Both  have  been  shown  by  later  investi- 
gators to  be  largely  imaginary,  or  at  least  idealized. 
There  are  various  chambers,  it  is  true,  and  a  special 
prison-cell  for  the  female ;  but  for  the  rest  the 
termitarium  appears  to  be  made  up  mainly  of 
labyrinthine  passages,  a  style  of  architecture  which 
gives  much  greater  strength  than  the  vaulted  halls 
with  wide-spanned  domes. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  "  ant-hills "  of 
great  size  are  the  work  of  several — it  may  be,  many 
— generations,  and  often  of  several  species.  Bates 
found  at  Santarem  that  the  large  hillocks  contained 
colonies  of  several  different  species,  each  of  which 
had  a  different  way  of  utilizing  the  building 
materials  and  kept  strictly  to  its  own  part  of 
the  structure — a  further  parallel  with  the  "  sky- 
scraper "  that  is  let  out  in  tenements  xxcupied  by 
different  firms  or  companies ! 

There  is  no  entrance  to  these  termitaria  evident 
from  the  exterior.  They  are  all  built  up  from 
the  ground  under  cover,  and  the  entrances  and 
exits  are  at  a  distance,  approached  by  under- 
ground tunnels.  Only  when  a  big  batch  of  the 
winged  males  and  females  have  reached  maturity 
are  the  outer  walls  pierced.  Then  the  workers 


MASONS  91 

bite  through  to  allow  of  the  exit  of  the  winged 
thousands. 

"  They  clear  the  way  for  their  bulky  but  fragile 
bodies,  and  bite  holes  through  the  outer  walls  for 
their  escape.  The  exodus  is  not  completed  in  one 
day,  but  continues  until  all  the  males  and  females 
have  emerged  from  their  pupa  integuments,  and 
flown  away.  It  takes  place  on  moist,  close  evenings, 
or  on  cloudy  mornings  :  they  are  much  attracted 
by  the  lights  in  houses,  and  fly  by  myriads  into 
chambers,  filling  the  air  with  a  loud  rustling  noise, 
and  often  falling  in  such  numbers  that  they  extin- 
guish the  lamps.  Almost  as  soon  as  they  touch 
ground  they  wriggle  off  their  wings,  to  aid  which 
operation  there  is  a  special  provision  in  the  structure 
of  the  organs,  a  seam  running  across  near  their  roots 
and  dividing  the  horny  nervures.  To  prove  that 
this  singular  mutilation  was  voluntary  on  the  part 
of  the  insects,  I  repeatedly  tried  to  detach  the  wings 
by  force,  but  could  never  succeed  whilst  they  were 
fresh,  for  they  always  tore  out  by  the  roots. 

"  Few  escape  the  innumerable  enemies  which 
are  on  the  alert  at  these  times  to  devour  them  : 
ants,  spiders,  lizards,  toads,  bats,  and  goatsuckers. 
The  waste  of  life  is  astonishing.  The  few  that  do 
survive  pair  and  become  the  kings  and  queens  of 
new  colonies.  I  ascertained  this  by  finding  single 
pairs  a  few  days  after  the  exodus,  which  I  always 
examined  and  proved  to  be  males  and  females, 
established  under  a  leaf,  a  clod  of  earth,  or  wander- 
ing about  under  the  edges  of  new  tumuli.  ...  I 


92    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

once  found  a  newly  married  pair  in  a  fresh  cell 
tended  by  a  few  workers  "  (Bates). 

Thomas  Ward,  the  Australian  naturalist,  gives 
us  a  picture  of  these  erections,  and  their  secondary 
uses,  as  he  found  them  in  the  Port  Darwin  district. 
He  says  : 

"  Seven  miles  beyond  the  wood  we  came  to  a 
patch  of  most  extraordinary-looking  country.  It 
was  covered  with  enormous  ant-hills,  many  of  them 
nearly  twenty  feet  high.  They  completely  shut 
off  our  view  of  the  surrounding  country ;  and  we 
seemed  to  be  passing  through  a  necropolis  of  strange 
tumuli.  Many  bones  were  strewn  about,  the  place 
seeming  to  be  a  favourite  haunt  of  the  wild  dogs, 
whose  monotonous  howling  we  heard  both  night 
and  day,  though  we  never  saw  more  than  five  or 
six  of  the  animals  at  a  time.  These  ant-hills  were, 
many  of  them  at  least,  of  great  age,  the  sides  rutted 
and  seamed  deeply,  and  often  covered  with  a  kind 
of  brown,  yellow,  and  reddish  lichens. 

"  The  colonists  are  fond  of  remarking  that 
nobody  has  ever  seen  a  freshly  erected  ant-hill,  and 
that  there  is  some  mystery  about  their  formation. 
This  is  simply  a  popular  error.  Ant-hills  of  all 
sizes  may  be  found  where  these  insects  (Termites) 
abound.  They  are  increased  in  size  so  gradually 
that  their  growth  is  not  perceptible  to  the  careless 
eye.  By  constant  watching  I  have  perceived  that 
small  hills  are  thrown  up  comparatively  more 
quickly  than  they  are  afterwards  increased  in  size. 
In  the  first  year  they  may  be  brought  up  to  g  foot 


MASONS  93 

in  height ;  at  the  end  of  seven  years  it  is  a  good  hill 
that  is  three  feet  high.  After  that  the  increase  is 
very  slow — a  hill  of  twenty  feet  high  is  probably 
several  hundred  years  old.  The  highest  hill  I  have 
measured,  near  the  Burdekin  River,  Queensland, 
was  twenty- two  feet  four  inches.  Hills  of  fourteen 
to  eighteen  feet  are  very  common,  both  in  Queens- 
land and  in  the  Port  Darwin  district. 

"  Ant-hills,  especially  the  large  and  old  ones,  are 
generally  crowded  with  parasites,  of  which  the 
largest  are  rats  and  snakes.  Whether  or  not  these 
annoy  the  c  ants  '  I  could  not  ascertain,  but  the 
latter  are  powerless  to  remove  them.  Quite  large 
snakes  burrow  into  the  hills,  and  a  multitude  of 
the  rats  sometimes  occupy  these  mounds,  and  I 
suspect  prey  upon  the  pupae.  ...  Of  lesser  creatures, 
such  as  lizards,  centipedes,  and  beetles,  the  numbers 
in  a  hill  frequently  amount  to  thousands.  All 
these,  without  doubt,  prey  on  the  Termites  and 
their  pupae,  and  the  Termites  appear  to  have  no 
power  of  retaliation. 

"These  insects,  invariably  called  'ants'  by  the 
colonists  of  the  districts  where  they  abound,  are 
one  of  the  most  intolerable  nuisances  of  the  country. 
They  undermine  everything  that  is  constructed  of 
wood,  and  houses  have  been  known  to  fall  as 
the  result  of  their  burrowing  habits,  while  chairs, 
tables,  and  other  articles  of  furniture  are  often 
exhibited  as  curiosities,  the  arms,  legs,  etc.,  being 
completely  hollowed  by  these  destructive  insects, 
and  the  whole  article  reduced  to  a  shell  scarcely 


94    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

thicker  than  paper.  Accidents  often  happen  as  a 
result  of  this  hollowing  habit  of  the  termite,  for 
it  is  impossible  to  detect  the  mischief  done  to 
beams,  rafters,  etc.,  until  they  give  way  "  (Rambles 
of  an  Australian  Naturalist}. 


IV 
CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD-WORKERS 


95 


IV 
CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD-WORKERS 

THE  Termites  with  which  we  last  dealt  may  be 
regarded  as  affording  a  natural  transition  from  the 
subject  of  masonry  to  that  of  carpentry,  for  they 
are  accomplished  in  both  arts,  though  their  skill 
as  masons  overshadows  their  work  as  carpenters 
except  when  they  obtain  access  to  human  dwellings. 
Like  the  work  of  many  other  of  the  insect  car- 
penters, the  industry  of  the  Termites  as  wood- 
workers is  of  a  destructive  character,  the  wood 
being  consumed  as  food,  and  in  this  case  only  used 
for  constructive  work  after  it  has  passed  through 
the  digestive  apparatus  and  assumed  an  entirely 
different  character.  The  higher  grade  of  insect 
carpentry  is  seen  in  the  work  of  the  Carpenter  Bee 
and  the  Carpenter  Ant. 

The  Carpenter  Bees  (Xylocqpa)  are  natives  of 
warmer  countries  than  our  own,  but  several  species 
are  found  in  the  South  of  Europe,  and  the  best 
known  of  them  (X.  violacea)  extends  its  northern 
range  as  far  as  the  neighbourhood  of  Paris.  The 
details  of  the  industry  of  this  bee  were  observed 
and  chronicled  years  ago  by  Reaumur,  whose  account 
7  97 


98    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

was  so  accurate  and  complete  that  little  has  been 
added  to  it  by  later  investigators.  These  insects 
are  the  largest  known  bees,  and  are  of  portly  build, 
much  like  a  large  Humble  Bee.  They  are  of  dark 
violet  or  black  colour — though  some  species  have 
yellow  males,  but  the  males  do  not  count  so  far 
as  the  subjects  of  this  book  are  concerned. 

The  female,  having  passed  the  winter  in  some 
snug  corner,  awakens  to  the  important  duties  of 
life  in  the  spring,  and  looks  out  for  some  post  or 
pole  that  will  serve  her  purpose ;  for  she  does 
not  touch  living  wood.  As  a  proper  carpenter  she 
sees  that  her  material  is  well  "  seasoned."  In  the 
scheme  of  nature,  which  does  not  take  account  of 
man's  acquired  whims  which  have  developed  into 
necessities,  all  dead  (i.e.  not  growing)  timber  has 
got  to  be  cleared  away  as  speedily  as  may  be  ;  and 
so  a  number  of  creatures  devote  part  of  their  lives 
to  this  laudable  object  of  clearing  away  used-up 
material  and  making  it  available  for  fresh  uses. 
This  they  do  either  by  eating  it  entirely  as  the 
Termites  do,  or  by  piercing  it  with  holes  and 
tunnels  to  admit  air  and  moisture  which  soften 
the  interior  and  make  it  available  for  workers  with 
less-powerful  jaws. 

It  is,  of  course,  annoying  to  man  to  find  that  his 
fence  and  gateposts,  his  garden  stakes,  and  even 
the  rafters  and  floors  of  his  house,  are  regarded  as 
so  much  of  nature's  waste  which  must  be  broken 
up  and  scattered.  If  he  wishes  it  to  be  respected 
as  his  private  property  let  him  put  his  mark  upon 


PLATE  12 


NESTS  OF  CARPENTER-BEE. 


Page  98 


The  shafts  bored  in  dead  wood  are  divided  into  cells  by  partitions  of  agglutinated 

wood-fragments.     These  are  provisioned  with  a  mixture  of  honey  and  pollen  and 

an  egg  laid  in  each.     The  cells  show  succeeding  stages  in  development,  beginning 

with  the  egg  in  the  lower  right-hand  cell. 

Drawn  by  T.  Carreras* 


;ARPENTERS  AND  WOOD-WORKERS  99 

it  by  painting  its  surfaces,  dipping  it  in  creosote, 
or  coating  it  with  some  other  substance  noxious 
to  insects. 

Having  obtained  a  post  suitable  for  her  purpose, 
the  Carpenter  Bee  sets  about  her  work  by  cutting 
with  her  jaws  an  oblique  tunnel  about  half  an  inch 
in  diameter.  Before  this  has  extended  far  into 
the  wood  she  alters  the  direction  of  further  excava- 
tion and  makes  her  boring  run  straight  downwards. 
As  she  gnaws  the  wood  it  is  reduced  to  the  condition 
of  sawdust,  and  this  all  has  to  be  carried  out  of 
the  hole,  or  her  further  efforts  would  be  brought 
to  a  standstill.  But  instead  of  scattering  the 
excavated  material,  as  some  of  the  miners  in  sand 
and  earth  do,  she  keeps  it  all  together  in  a  heap  to 
be  available  for  use  later  on. 

She  cuts  and  cuts  away  until  her  tube  is  a  foot 
or  fifteen  inches  deep  and  of  equal  width  through- 
out its  length.  At  the  bottom  she  gives  it  a  turn 
again  to  the  exterior.  Having  performed  this  great 
work,  she  proceeds  to  what,  by  comparison,  may 
be  termed  cabinet-work,  the  finer  and  more  intricate 
section  of  the  carpenter's  art.  Her  task  is  to  divide 
this  deep  shaft  into  about  a  dozen  chambers,  each 
about  an  inch  in  depth,  each  for  the  reception 
of  a  single  egg  and  a  sufficiency  of  food  for  the  full 
development  of  the  bee-grub  that  is  to  hatch  out. 
This  takes  the  usual  form  among  these  solitary  bees, 
of  mixed  pollen  and  honey. 

Having  made  such  a  deposit  at  the  bottom  of 
tier  burrow,  she  has  recourse  to  her  heap  of  saw- 


ioo   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

dust.  Taking  a  little  of  this  material,  she  mixes  it 
with  a  salivary  secretion,  and  forms  it  into  a  ring 
around  the  wall  of  her  shaft  about  three-quarters 
of  an  inch  from  the  bottom.  When  this  is  set 
firm  she  constructs  a  similar  ring  within  the  cir- 
cumference of  the  first,  and  so  on  until  she  has  a 
complete  floor  about  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  thick- 
ness, marking  off  her  lowest  cell.  Upon  this  she 
lays  another  egg  and  piles  up  another  heap  of 
provisions  ;  makes  a  second  floor,  and  repeats 
these  operations  until  there  are  about  a  dozen 
separate  cells  one  above  another  from  the  base  to 
the  summit  of  her  shaft,  each  with  its  egg  and  food. 

If  the  thickness  of  the  post  is  sufficient,  several 
parallel  shafts  are  made.  Fabre  has  shown  that  if 
she  can  obtain  a  hollow  reed  of  the  necessary 
thickness,  she  has  sufficient  of  the  labour- avoiding 
spirit  to  be  content  with  it.  She  will  also  repair 
nests  of  previous  years  to  make  them  serve  for  her 
brood. 

It  will  be  evident  that  the  elaboration  of  these 
floors  from  sawdust,  and  the  gathering  of  food  for 
such  cell  must  consume  some  time,  so  that  the 
larva  in  the  lowest  cell  must  finish  its  development 
before  the  one  next  above  it  in  this  tenement- 
house.  If  the  first  fledged  had  to  emerge  where 
the  mother  bee  began  her  labours,  at  the  top  of 
the  shaft,  it  would  have  to  pierce  through  all  the 
floors — and  incidentally,  perhaps,  through  several 
of  its  brothers  and  sisters — before  it  could  gain 
its  liberty.  This  is  the  reason  why  the  Carpenter 


CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD-WORKERS     101 

made  that  lower  exit.  The  bee  grub  at  the  time 
of  its  pupation  fixes  itself  with  its  head  downwards 
against  the  floor  of  its  cell ;  and  so,  naturally,  the 
new-born  bee  cuts  through  the  floor  and  makes  its 
way  through  the  already  vacated  cells  below. 

One  regrets  that  the  Carpenter  Bee  has  not 
crossed  the  English  Channel  and  added  its  name 
to  the  list  of  British  Hymenoptera.  But  if  we 
cannot  boast  of  one  of  the  largest  of  bees  among 
our  fauna,  we  have  one  of  the  smallest  that  is  also 
a  clever  artizan — Ceratina  cyanea — whose  metallic 
blue  body  only  measures  a  quarter  of  an  inch.  It 
is  related,  moreover,  to  the  burly  Continental  car- 
penter, and  shares  its  habits,  though  it  works  in 
softer  materials,  as  seems  fitting  to  its  diminutive 
size.  Ceratina  needs  no  bulky  post  to  accommodate 
its  series  of  cells.  Everybody  knows  that  the  long 
shoots  of  the  bramble  that  have  borne  this  autumn's 
crop  of  blackberries  will  die  off  in  the  winter  and 
become  brown  and  brittle.  Next  spring  Ceratina 
will  be  taking  stock  of  these  and  looking  for  one 
that  has  a  broken  end.  Into  this  she  will  tunnel, 
clearing  out  the  pith  to  the  length  of  about  a  foot, 
dividing  the  cleared  space  into  tiny  cells,  laying  an 
egg  in  each  and  leaving  a  suitable  mass  of  food. 
The  partitions  between  the  cells  are  contrived  out 
of  the  pith-fragments  glued  together  by  means  of 
her  saliva. 

In  speaking  of  the  provision  of  a  lower  exit  from 
her  nest  by  Xylocopa  we  suggested  that  but  for 
this  arrangement  the  newly  developed  bees  might 


102   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

have  to  pass  through  the  bodies  of  their  less-ready 
kindred  ;  but  if  we  are  to  judge  by  the  behaviour 
of  another  little  carpenter,  Osmia  tridentata,  there 
is  no  likelihood  of  such  action  being  taken.  There 
is  such  a  thing  as  altruism  among  insects,  though  it 
may  be  only  instinctive  altruism. 

Our  native  Osmia  leucomelana  usually  drills  out 
the  dead  bramble-stems  like  Ceratina,  and  constructs 
its  cells  of  the  pith,  placing  them  end  to  end. 
O.  tridentata  is  a  Continental  species  with  similar 
habits,  and  as  it  has  been  made  the  subject  of  some 
interesting  experiments  by  Fabre  we  select  it  for 
description.  Some  other  species  are  masons  and 
excavate  sand  or  clay.  Making  a  cylindrical  boring 
into  the  bramble-stem,  O.  tridentata  does  not 
trouble  to  clear  out  at  first  more  pith  than  will 
serve  to  allow  her  passage.  Then  at  the  far  end 
of  her  burrow  she  constructs  an  oval  cell,  using 
for  the  purpose  the  pith  she  has  left  on  the  stem, 
and  stores  it  with  pollen,  honey,  and  an  egg.  She 
shuts  up  this  cell  by  constructing  another  and 
using  the  material  cut  out,  mixed  with  salivary 
cement,  to  form  a  partition  across  the  stem.  So 
she  proceeds  until  she  has  constructed  and  furnished 
ten  or  twelve  cells. 

Now,  it  is  natural  to  assume  that,  as  in  some 
similar  cases,  the  egg  that  was  deposited  first  would 
produce  the  first  bee  ready  to  emerge,  and  a  diffi- 
culty arises  as  to  the  manner  in  which  it  makes 
its  escape.  Dufour  boldly  concluded  in  a  similar 
case  that  it  was  from  the  last-made  cell  that  the 


CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD-WORKERS     103 

first  bee  of  the  brood  escaped,  and  so  on  in  inverse 
order  to  their  age  with  the  entire  brood.  It  .is 
not  surprising  to  learn  from  Fabre  that  this  is  not 
the  case.  He  found  that  as  a  fact  the  order  in 
which  the  eggs  were  laid  had  no  relation  of  necessity 
to  the  order  in  which  the  perfect  insects  emerged 
from  their  cocoons. 

When  one  of  the  bees  has  completed  its  develop- 
ment it  tears  open  the  cocoon  that  has  contained 
it,   and  then  pierces  the  partition  erected  by  its 
mother  between  it  and  the  next  cell.     Should  it 
chance  to  be  the  one  nearest  the  entrance  there  is, 
of    course,    no    difficulty.     It    is    free.     But    if   its 
egress  is  blocked  by  another  cell,  or  more,  it  will 
not  violate  the  cocoon,  but  waits,  cramped  up  but 
patient,  for  days  until  the  other  has  emerged  in 
front  of  it.     It  may,  after  thus  waiting  and  feeling 
the  impulse  of  the  work  it  has  to  do,  strive  to  break 
through  the  wood  of  the  bramble- stem,  or  clear  a 
passage  beside  the  cocoon,  but  it  will  die  rather 
than  injure  a  cocoon  it  knows  to  be  occupied  by  a 
living  pupa  of  its  own  race.     If  something  has  gone 
wrong  with  one  of  the  outer  cells,  so  that  emergence 
from  the  inner  ones  is  delayed  more  than  a  week 
or  two,  they  will  probably  all  die. 

Fabre  blocked  such  a  tunnel  with  cocoons  con- 
taining dead  specimens  of  the  same  species,  and 
found  that  in  every  case  the  emerging  bees  had  no 
scruple  as  to  breaking  through  such  cocoons :  they 
knew  the  inmates  were  dead.  He  then  took  a  reed 
that  contained  the  cells  of  another  species  of  Osmia 


104   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

(O.  detritus),  and  blocked  it  with,  cocoons  containing 
living  grubs  of  Solenius  vagus.  As  these  were  not 
of  their  own  race,  the  Osmia  had  no  compunction 
in  destroying  them.  Although  living,  they  were  of 
no  more  value  in  their  estimation  than  their  dead 
kindred. 

Cemonus  unicolor,  a  little  black  wasp  only  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  long,  also  forms  its  nests  in  these 
dead  bramble-stems,  which,  by  the  way,  offer  a 
very  convenient  means  of  making  acquaintance 
with  the  nesting  habits  and  general  history  of  some 
of  our  hymenopterous  insects.  The  dead  stems  that 
have  had  their  broken  ends  plastered  up  by  the 
mother  bee  have  only  to  be  collected  and  stored 
in  a  suitable  gauze-covered  box  until  spring,  when 
the  bees  will  emerge  and  their  identity  can  be 
established.  A  careful  paring  of  the  wood  along 
one  side  of  the  stem  will  then  reveal  the  structure 
of  the  contained  cells.  This  species  provisions  her 
cells  with  Aphides,  the  detested  "  green  fly  "  of  the 
gardener.  Sometimes,  instead  of  bramble-stems  she 
makes  use  of  the  bullet-galls  of  the  oak,  enlarging 
the  borings  through  which  the  rightful  inhabitants 
have  emerged.  A  very  similar  but  slightly  larger 
black  wasp,  Pemphredon  lugubris,  bores  into  the 
soft  wood  of  decayed  beeches.  Both  these  species 
occur  in  Britain. 

Several  of  the  burrowing  wasps  of  the  genus 
Crabro,  of  which  we  have  thirty  British  representa- 
tives, make  their  burrows  in  bramble-stems  and 
similar  material.  The  grubs  before  pupation  spin 


CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD-WORKERS     105 

tough  brownish  cocoons.  The  perfect  insects  are 
black  and  yellow  (some  all  black),  often  banded  in 
a  very  wasp-like  fashion,  and  they  have  broad, 
square-cut  heads.  The  usual  food  stored  for  their 
grubs  consists  of  two- winged  flies  (Diptera),  and  in 
some  cases  each  species  of  Crabro  has  a  particular 
species  of  fly  it  uses  for  this  purpose ;  but  there 
are  several  remarkable  departures  from  the  rule. 
Three  of  our  native  species  (Crabro  tibialis,  C. 
clavipes,  and  C.  capitosus)  use  bramble-stems  for 
their  burrowing  operations.  C.  signatus  and  C. 
dimidiatus  bore  into  posts  and  stumps,  the  latter 
species  storing  up  blue-bottle  flies.  C.  leucostomus 
has  a  preference  for  the  soft  wood  of  decaying 
willow-trees,  and  as  grub-food  selects  the  bright- 
green  fly  Chrysomyia  fiolita.  C.  quadrimaculatus, 
C.  chrysostomus,  and  C.  interru-ptus  also  burrow  into 
dead  wood. 

The  Peckhams  found  C.  sexmaculatus  burrowing 
into  the  sound  wood  of  an  above-ground  root  of 
the  lime-tree.  Five  of  them  were  sinking  their 
shafts  side  by  side — 

"...  sawing  and  cutting  in  the  most  humdrum 
and  practical  manner.  One  of  them,  presumably  the 
earliest  riser,  was  well  down  in  the  root,  and  came 
backing  up  once  in  a  while,  pushing  a  lot  of  wood- 
dust  out  of  the  hole.  This  was  spread  out  by 
means  of  legs  and  mandibles,  and  was  then  blown 
away  by  the  fanring  wings  of  the  little  worker, 
who  circled  about  just  above  the  ground  until  the 
last  grain  had  disappeared.  .  .  ,  After  this  series  of 


106   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

actions  had  been  repeated  several  times,  the  wasp 
flew  away  to  hunt.  We  afterwards  found  that  she 
had  finished  the  third  in  a  set  of  cells  leading  from 
a  main  gallery.  On  her  return  we , delayed  her  to 
see  what  she  was  carrying.  She  showed  no  fear, 
but  alighted  close  by,  and  while  she  was  trying 
to  transfer  to  the  third  pair  of  legs  the  fly  that 
she  was  clasping  with  the  second  pair,  it  escaped 
and  flew  gaily  away.  Flies  are  plenty,  however,  and 
she  soon  had  another,  which  she  was  permitted  to 
store ;  and  from  that  time  she  worked  busily  until 
we  left  her  at  noon.  It  took  her  from  two  to  ten 
minutes  to  catch  her  fly,  and  at  each  return  two 
or  three  minutes  were  spent  in  the  nest. 

"  On  opening  her  tunnel  some  days  later,  we 
found  within  not  only  flies,  but  long-bodied  gnats, 
and  all  of  them  seemed  to  have  been  brought 
home  uninjured.  When  the  freshest  cell  was 
opened  some  flew  away,  others  were  walking  about, 
and  all  were  lively.  The  wasp  egg  was  laid  on 
the  under  side  of  the  neck ;  and  although  we 
could  not  be  certain  of  the  exact  time  of  laying, 
we  thought  it  hatched  at  the  end  of  thirty- six 
hours.  From  ten  to  sixteen  flies  were  provided 
for  each  larva." 

The  same  observers  found  a  colony  of  ten  or 
twelve  nests  of  our  C.  interruptus,  made  in  a  stranded 
log  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  to  their 
surprise  the  wasps  were  storing  them  with  little 
white  moths,  which  they  packed  length-wise  in  the 
nest.  They  also  observed  C.  stirpicola  excavating 


CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD-WORKERS     107 

a  bramble-stem,  and  they  comment  upon  the  con- 
trast all  these  Crabros  offer  in  their  quiet  and 
calm,  even  stately,  methods  of  working  to  the 
restless  and  fussy  ways  of  Pompilus  and  Ammophila. 
They  found  that  this  species  at  least  works  all 
through  the  night.  One  individual  was  kept  under 
close  observation,  and  they  found  that  she  worked 
continuously  at  her  carpentry  for  forty-two  hours 
on  end.  The  only  interval  she  allowed  herself  for 
rest  during  that  long  period  was  one  of  ten  minutes 
when  she  was  about  half-way  through  her  task. 

Her  tunnel  was  found  to  be  thirty-nine  centi- 
metres (  =  ^f  inches)  in  length,  with  a  width  of 
about  three  and  a  half  millimetres.  This  would  be 
divided  by  partitions  into  ten  or  twelve  cells. 
Unfortunately,  after  finishing  her  forty-two  hours' 
spell  of  carpentry,  and  closing  up  one  cell  with 
its  eggs  and  stores,  she  must  have  met  with  some 
mishap  on  her  hunting  expedition,  for  she  never 
came  back  to  complete  her  nest.  It  was  impossible 
to  think  that  anything  short  of  loss  of  life  had 
kept  her  from  it.  With  insectivorous  birds  about, 
this,  alas  !  is  only  too  common  an  end  to  such 
enterprises. 

Some  species  of  Odynerus  differ  from  those 
already  described  under  the  head  of  Miners  by 
making  burrows  in  bramble-stems  and  the  like. 
Among  these  are  three  of  our  native  species — O. 
melanoce'phalus  and  O.  l&vi'pes  which  adopt  bramble- 
stems,  and  O.  trijasciatus  which  prefers  old  palings. 
The  North  American  species,  0.  conformis  and 


loS   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

O.  anormis,  likewise  tunnel  in  the  stems  of  bramble 
and  raspberry.  In  some  nests  of  O.  conforms 
opened  by  the  Peckhams  they  found  each  cell 
contained  about  twenty-four  small  caterpillars  so 
tightly  packed  that  after  taking  them  out  to  count 
them  they  were  unable  to  put  them  all  back,  and 
although  motionless  in  their  narrow  quarters  they 
become  quite  active  when  relieved  from  pressure. 
Our  O.  l&vi'pes  is  said  by  Saunders  to  be  not  content 
with  the  natural  lining  of  pith  to  its  burrow,  but 
takes  the  trouble  to  give  this  a  coating  of  cement 
made  from  fine  sand. 

Certain  of  the  true  Ants  are  accomplished  car- 
penters. We  need  not  go  beyond  our  shores  for  a 
good  example,  which  we  find  in  the  Jet  Ant  (Lasius 
fuliginosus),  a  little  shiny  black  ant.  Its  natural 
nesting-places  are  in  old  trees  and  stumps,  but  it  is 
not  above  taking  advantage  of  worked  wood  for 
its  purposes.  Its  method  is  to  carve  out  wide  and 
ramifying  galleries  in  the  wood,  leaving  partitions 
and  supporting  columns  between  the  stories.  It 
follows  no  architectural  plan  in  its  operations,  each 
worker  apparently  following  its  own  sweet  will 
and  its  own  idea  of  what  is  advantageous  to  the 
colony.  One  starts  a  corridor  and  works  until  it 
is  tired,  then  leaves  off,  and  any  other  ant  that 
wanders  that  way  carries  the  work  a  bit  farther, 
probably  on  a  different  plan.  These  corridors  are 
often  cut  out  side  by  side,  but  on  different  levels, 
so  that  when  later  the  dividing  walls  are  cut  through 
in  places  the  result  is  rather  higgledy-piggledy. 


CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD-WORKERS     109 

We  have  alluded  to  these  excavations  as  nests, 
but  they  are  really  only  nests  in  part,  for  the  ants 
can  occupy  only  an  infinitesimal  part  of  the  whole. 
Insect  structures  intended  solely  for  nests  have 
some  relation  to  the  size  of  the  inmates,  and  passages 
are  cut  allowing  little  more  than  free  headway ; 
but  the  scale  of  Lasius  fuliginosus*  home  is  much  as 
though  a  man  built  his  residence  on  cathedral  lines. 
Some  of  the  Carpenter  Ant's  floors,  indeed,  remind 
one  of  cathedral  architecture  with  their  supporting 
pillars  and  arches. 

This  ant  builds  up  as  well  as  pulls  down,  for 
where  a  gallery  or  corridor  has  been  cut  out  without 
any  apparent  regard  for  particular  uses,  it  will 
afterwards  erect  partitions  to  divide  it  off  into 
small  rooms.  These  partitions  are  elaborated  out 
of  wood- dust  mixed  with  saliva  and  spread  out  in 
thin  sheets,  so  that  it  dries  as  cardboard.  Every 
part  of  the  wood  they  have  worked  turns  black,  as 
though  it  had  been  scorched,  and  the  nest,  as  well 
as  the  ants,  gives  off  a  pungent  aromatic  odour. 

Lasius  niger^  which  usually  makes  its  nest  in  the 
ground,  sometimes  constructs  it  in  rotten  wood. 
The  Jet  Ant,  it  should  be  observed,  does  not  work 
in  such  soft  material.  The  wood  selected  is  firm 
and  strong,  and  sometimes  is  that  of  a  growing 
tree. 

Of  an  American  Carpenter  Ant  (Camponotus 
'pennsylvanicus)  which  normally  makes  its  nests  in 
tree-stumps,  much  after  the  manner  of  our  Jet 
Ant,  McCook  has  shown  the  readiness  with  which 


i  io  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

it  can  take  advantage  of  the  shelter  afforded  by 
a  human  erection.  A  colony  of  this  ant  had 
established  itself  in  a  mill  and  had  selected  as  a 
nesting- place  a  beam  above  a  staircase.  They  had 
found  a  crack  in  the  wood  and  used  it  as  a  con- 
venient entrance.  From  this  point  they  drove 
tunnels  far  into  the  beam,  and  enlarged  parts  of 
these  into  corridors  and  chambers. 

The  wood  cut  to  small  fragments  by  their  jaws 
was  taken  back  to  the  entrance  and  there  dropped. 
But  it  accumulated  in  an  incriminating  heap  on  a 
cross-beam  only  a  foot  and  a  half  below.  So  a 
company  of  workers  was  told  off  to  clear  it  away 
as  it  fell.  This  they  did  by  carrying  it  bit  by  bit 
to  the  edge  of  the  beam  and  dropping  it  over. 
But  this  did  not  get  rid  of  it,  for  it  fell  upon  the 
stairs,  where  it  might  equally  call  attention  to  the 
presence  of  the  ants.  Many  of  the  burrowing 
Hymenoptera,  whether  working  in  wood  or  masonry, 
are  equally  solicitous  to  remove  such  evidences  of 
their  presence,  which  might  otherwise  give  the 
clue  to  their  enemies.  A  gang  of  ants  was  set  to 
work  on  the  stairs  to  scatter  the  tell-tale  wood- 
dust  farther  away.  Now  these  stairs  were  regularly 
swept  down  every  morning  by  the  mill-people,  and 
after  a  time  this  fact  by  some  means  became 
impressed  upon  the  minds  of  the  ants,  for  they 
withdrew  the  staircase  workers  and  contented  them- 
selves with  the  dispersal  of  the  debris  constantly 
falling  upon  the  cross-beam. 

These    ants    are    not    rapid    destroyers    like    the 


CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD-WORKERS     in 

Termites,  for  after  they  had  been  at  work  for  eight 
or  ten  years  the  beam  was  taken  down  and  it  was 
found  they  had  only  penetrated  to  a  length  of 
two  feet.  The  thickness  of  the  beam  was  seven 
inches,  so  that  this  area  was  considerable.  The 
beam  was  cut  through  the  affected  part,  and  was 
found  to  be  well  excavated,  with  the  floors,  arches, 
and  columns  left,  much  as  in  the  work  of  the  Jet 
Ant,  and  as  in  that  case  well  blackened. 

The  anxiety  of  this  Pennsylvanian  ant  to  dispose 
of  the  evidences  of  its  industry  is  shown  in  another 
incident  mentioned  by  McCook.  A  small  maple- 
tree  grew  in  one  of  Philadelphia's  streets,  to  which 
the  ants  had  obtained  access  through  a  crevice 
in  the  bark.  From  this  crevice  the  wood-dust  was 
ejected  and,  of  course,  formed  a  tell- tell  heap  on 
the  side-walk.  Here,  again,  a  couple  of  ants  were 
busily  engaged  in  disposing  of  it  by  carrying  it  grain 
by  grain  to  the  kerb,  and  dropping  it  over  into 
the  gutter.  After  every  such  performance  the  ant 
would  carefully  brush  her  mouth  with  her  fore- 
feet to  make  sure  there  were  no  fragments  of  wood- 
dust  adhering  to  it. 

The  European  species  Camponotus  herculeanus 
has  similar  wood- excavating  habits.  In  South 
America  there  is  a  carpenter  ant  known  as  Crypto- 
cerus  atratus,  which  is  remarkable  for  the  spines 
on  its  thorax  and  at  the  back  of  its  broad  head. 
It  perforates  the  dead  branches  of  trees  and  woody 
climbers.  The  entrance  to  its  nest  consists  of  a 
few  neatly  drilled  holes  which  are  the  beginnings 


ii2   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

of  long  galleries.  These  are  connected  within  by 
other  galleries.  Colobopsis  lives  in  a  similar  manner, 
and  for  the  protection  of  the  colony  keeps  a  big- 
headed  worker  on  duty  as  a  sentinel  at  the  doorway. 
The  worker's  head  just  fills  the  space,  and  its  jaws 
are  ever  ready  to  argue  the  matter  with  an  unwel- 
come caller.  One  who  has  the  right  of  entry  is 
admitted  by  the  worker  withdrawing  backwards. 

Among  the  beetles  there  are  a  number  of  accom- 
plished carpenters,  some  of  them  spending  several 
years  in  the  excavation  of  long  burrows  in  trees, 
others  engaged  for  generations  in  what  the  house- 
holder considers  the  more  reprehensible  business 
of  drilling  into  his  most  cherished  articles  of  wooden 
furniture  and  reducing  them  to  fine  dust.  In  the 
days  when  our  navy  consisted  of  wooden  ships,  some 
of  these  beetles  were  in  permanent  league  with  our 
enemies  in  the  effort  to  destroy  these  wooden  walls. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  deal  at  length  with  these 
carpenter  beetles,  for  their  methods  are  much  the 
same  in  many  cases.  A  few  examples  must  suffice. 

The  smaller  of  the  carpenter  beetles  content 
themselves  with  tunnelling  in  the  bark  of  trees, 
and  such  attacks  are  frequently  regarded  as  of  little 
moment  to  the  tree,  but  they  have  been  shown  in 
some  cases  to  interfere  with  the  normal  flow  of 
the  descending  sap,  and  so  produce  an  unhealthy 
condition  which  renders  the  tree  susceptible  to  the 
attacks  of  more  destructive  species.  Moreover, 
damp  finds  its  way  into  these  borings,  also  the  spores 
of  wood- destroy  ing  fungi  which  complete  the  work 


CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD-WORKERS    113 

begun  by  the  insignificant  beetle.  It  must  be 
understood  that  when  we  speak  of  carpenter  beetles 
we  really  refer  to  the  insect  in  the  grub  stage. 
Some  of  the  beetles  as  perfect  insects  indulge  in 
wood-boring  to  some  extent,  especially  females 
to  deposit  their  eggs  in  a  suitable  position,  but 
the  real  work  of  wood-boring  is  performed  by  the 
larvae. 

These  insects  are  little  known  to  any  but  the 
coleopterists,  owing  to  their  secluded  lives.  One 
whose  ravages  are  most  familiar  is  the  Bark  Beetle 
(Scolytus  destructor) ,  because  one  can  often  see  a 
dead  elm  from  which  the  bark  has  fallen,  revealing 
the  characteristic  feather-like  sets  of  burrows. 
There  is  a  central  burrow  from  which  on  either  side 
other  burrows  run  off  at  right  angles  to  the  central 
burrow,  and  at  first  parallel  to  each  other.  This 
pattern  is  brought  about  in  this  manner :  the 
mother  beetle  bores  the  central  burrow,  and  lays 
her  eggs  to  the  number  of  about  fifty  at  pretty 
regular  intervals  along  each  side  of  it.  When  these 
eggs  hatch,  the  young  grubs  set  to  work,  each 
forming  one  of  the  side  galleries.  It  is  remarkable 
that  every  one  of  them  should  start  off  at  a  right 
angle  and  continue  his  burrow  away  from  the 
central  avenue. 

These  side  galleries  as  they  advance  from  the 
centre  increase  in  breadth,  an  indication  of  the 
gradual  increase  in  size  of  the  carpenter.  To 
accommodate  this  extra  width  without  the  whole 
of  the  side-burrows  coalescing  at  their  ends,  it  is 
8 


114   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

necessary  that  a  slight  radiation  of  all  should  take 
place,  but  how  this  is  accomplished  by  grubs  that 
are  entirely  shut  off  from  communication  is  some- 
thing of  a  mystery.  The  explanation  is,  probably, 
that  each  grub  can  hear  the  action  of  its  neighbour's 
jaws  transmitted  through  the  cells  of  the  bark  and 
so  can  judge  what  is  the  proper  line  for  its  own 
excavation  to  take. 

The  Bark  Beetle  is  quite  small — not  more  than  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  long — and  black  or  brown  in 
colour.  Its  smallness  would  appear  to  indicate  an 
insignificant  enemy  to  the  timber  grower,  espe- 
cially as  it  never  penetrates  deeply  into  the  wood. 
Its  burrows  are  half  in  the  bark  and  half  in  the 
surface  of  the  sap-wood.  The  completion  of  the 
work  of  the  grub  is  made  evident  by  the  appearance 
of  a  number  of  what  appear  to  be  shot-holes  in 
the  bark.  These  show  that  the  insect  having  lain 
for  a  time  as  a  chrysalis  in  the  broader  end  of  its 
burrow  has  changed  to  a  beetle  and  eaten  its  way 
out  through  the  bark.  The  combined  work  of  the 
one  brood  extends  over  a  space  of  about  six  inches 
by  four,  and  the  result  has  been  to  kill  a  patch  of 
bark  of  that  size,  so  that  sooner  or  later  it  separates 
from  the  sapwood  and  kills  that  too,  by  stopping 
the  downward  flow  of  the  sap  at  that  place. 

There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether 
these  beetles  attack  trees  that  are  really  healthy, 
or  whether  a  certain  condition  of  sickliness  is  not 
necessarily  precedent  to  the  success  of  the  grubs. 
If  the  circulation  of  the  tree  were  good,  the  burrows 


CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD- WORKERS     115 

would  be  filled  by  the  descending  sap  and  the  grubs 
would  be  drowned  by  it. 

There  are  two  things  in  connection  with  Scolytus 
that  should  be  reverted  to.  It  has  sometimes  been 
stated  that  the  side  burrows  starting  off  at  right 
angles  from  the  central  boring  is  due  to  a  remark- 
able instinct  which  leads  the  insects  to  this  course 
in  order  that  they  shall  avoid  breaking  into  or 
crossing  those  of  their  brethren.  Instinct  has 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  it ;  it  is  a  case  of 
"  Hobson's  choice."  Any  one  who  has  stripped  off 
bark  from  an  attacked  elm  knows  that  all  these 
burrows  are  closely  packed  with  powdered  bark 
that  has  passed  through  the  digestive  organs  of  the 
insects.  If  the  newly  hatched  grubs  did  not  turn 
their  attention  to  the  sound  bark  before  them  they 
would  have  to  feed  upon  this  excrement. 

Another  statement  we  have  seen  made  is  that 
the  larvae  never  break  into  neighbouring  burrows. 
As  a  rule  they  do  not ;  but  we  have  met  with  many 
cases  in  which  they  have  done  so,  and  we  have 
seen  examples  in  which  one  set  of  burrows  have 
gone  right  across  another  set  at  right  angles. 

There  are  other  beetles  allied  to  Scolytus  that 
attack  the  bark  of  trees.  Two  of  them — S.  rugulosus 
and  S.  pruni — belong  to  the  same  genus  and  attack 
plum-trees  in  a  similar  way.  Hyle sinus  jraxini 
makes  a  similar  arrangement  of  burrows  in  the 
ash-tree,  and  these  are  frequently  evident  in  split 
ash- poles  that  have  been  used  for  fencing,  and  from 
which  the  bark  has  fallen.  Tomicus  typographies 


n6   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

was  so  called  by  Linnaeus  on  account  of  the  letter- 
like  character  of  some  of  its  tunnels.  Small  beetles 
of  the  genera  Pissodes  and  Bostrichus  also  perform 
their  carpentry  work  in  the  bark  of  various  trees. 

But  the  carpenter  among  beetles  is  the  grub  of 
the    Stag    Beetle    (Luc anus  cervus),    the  largest    of 
our   native   species.     It   spends   four  years   in   this 
condition  and  attains  a  considerable  size,  so  that 
it  would  be  a  wood- destroyer  to  be*  dreaded  were 
it  not  for  the  fact  that  it  restricts  its  attention  to 
those  trees  whose  timber  is  decaying.     It  is  there- 
fore   regarded    as    harmless.     At    the    end    of    the 
larval  period  it  makes  a  cocoon  and  changes  to  a 
pupa,  in  which  condition  it  rests  for  a  short  period 
only,   soon   assuming   the   perfect   form,   but   then 
remaining  inactive  for  some  months,  only  issuing 
to  public  view  when  the  warm  evenings  of  June 
have   arrived,   when   in    the    southern    counties   it 
may  be   seen  in  great   numbers   flying   about   the 
lanes  and  fields.     Its  pabulum  is  chiefly  oak,  but 
it  is  often  found  in  old  willows.     Two  allied  species, 
Sinodendron  cylindricum  and  Dorcus  parallelopipedus, 
have  similar  habits,  but  are  comparatively  rare. 

Lymexylon  navale  differs  from  these  in  attacking 
solid,  hard  wood  into  which  it  bores  long  cylindrical 
holes.  In  the  days  when  our  navy  depended  upon 
sound  timber  the  ravages  of  this  beetle  used  to 
cause  alarm,  but  now  that  we  no  longer  grow  timber 
trees  seriously,  but  mainly  as  cover  for  game,  it 
appears  to  have  lost  its  character  as  a  pest.  It 
certainly  no  longer  obtrudes  itself  upon  public 


CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD- WORKERS     117 

attention,  and  even  the  coleopterist  does  not  reckon 
it  among  common  insects.  But  this  is  probably 
due  to  the  fact  that  our  forests  are  not  what  they 
were. 

Anobium  striatum  is  the  well-known  (by  its  works 
at  least,  if  not  in  person)  little  beetle  that  bores 
the  numerous  pin-holes  in  our  choice  old  furniture ; 
and  its  larger  relation,  A.  tessellatum,  does  similar 
work  in  beams.  They  are  known  as  the  "Death 
Watch,"  whose  tapping,  heard  only  in  the  stillness 
of  the  sick  chamber,  was  formerly  held  to  be  a  sure 
presage  of  the  patient's  early  death.  They  are 
near  relations  of  the  "  Biscuit  Weevil,"  which  may 
be  regarded  as  a  carpenter  from  the  fact  that  it 
operates  on  biscuits  that  are  as  hard  as  wood ;  but 
not  content  with  drilling  passages,  it  demolishes 
the  whole. 

The  grub  of  Nacerdes  melanura  has  a  special 
liking  for  working  in  floating  or  water-logged 
timber.  It  may  be  found  along  our  sea-coasts  in 
timber  that  has  been  brought  down  the  rivers  in 
flood,  or  that  has  been  cast  up  by  the  sea. 

Most  of  the  larvae  of  the  enormous  family  of 
beetles  known  as  Longicorns  (Cerambycidce),  of 
which  more  than  twelve  thousand  species  are 
known,  live  on  or  in  wood  and  the  stems  of  softer 
plants.  The  Oak-pruner  (Elaphidion  villosum),  of 
North  America,  feeds  in  the  limbs  of  oak-trees, 
and  cuts  across  them  in  such  manner  that  they 
fall  to  the  ground,  the  grub  evidently  preferring  its 
wood  dead. 


ii8   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

The  Girdler  Beetles  (Oncideres)  of  the  same 
continent  achieve  the  same  end  by  a  different 
method.  The  mother  beetle,  having  deposited  an 
egg  in  a  small  branch,  cuts  a  deep  groove,  girdle- 
fashion,  around  it,  so  that  the  flow  of  sap  is  stopped 
and  the  length  of  branch  snaps  in  the  first  wind 
and  falls  to  the  ground.  When  the  wood  containing 
any  of  these  larvae  gets  worked  up  by  human 
carpenters  into  articles  of  furniture,  the  drier 
conditions  appear  to  greatly  lengthen  the  develop- 
ment of  the  insect,  owing  to  the  wood  being  less 
nourishing.  Thus  Monohammus  has  been  known 
to  issue  from  furniture  that  was  fifteen  years  old ; 
and  in  another  case  a  longicorn  beetle  issued  under 
conditions  which  made  it  probable  that  its  develop- 
ment had  been  spread  over  forty-five  years.  The 
grub  of  Buprestis  splendida  is  known  to  have  existed 
in  the  wood  of  a  table  for  twenty  years. 

The  beautiful  Musk  Beetle  (Aromia  moschata),  one 
of  the  finest  of  our  native  beetles,  spends  its  larval 
existence  in  boring  holes  deeply  into  the  timber  of 
old  willow-trees.  The  beetle  makes  its  presence 
known  by  giving  off  an  odour  which  closely  resembles 
that  of  the  sweet-briar  rose.  The  deceptively 
marked  Wasp  Beetles  (Clytus)  are  also  carpenters 
in  their  larval  days,  excavating  long  tunnels  in 
the  thicker  branches  of  trees.  We  have  several 
times  unwittingly  reared  a  half-dozen  or  more  of 
these  beetles  from  a  piece  of  such  a  branch  only  a 
few  inches  long,  the  piece  of  wood  having  been 
brought  home  because  it  supported  some  fungus. 


PLATE  14 


BORINGS  OF  A  BEETLE  GRUB, 


Page  n& 

A  beautiful  shining  blue  wood-boring  beetle  is  here  discovered  in  the  grub  stage  on 
tearing  off  the  bark  of  Scots  pine.     The  beetle  never  attacks  growing  timber. 

Photo  by  Author. 


PLATE   15 


THE  TIMBERMAN. 


Page  120 


This  wood-boring  beetle  is  distinguished  by  his  pair  of  fine  antennae.     Those  of  the 

female  (above)  may  be  described  as  long,  but  those  of  the  two  contending  males 

are  very  much  longer.     This  beetle  is  very  destructive  to  pit  props  in  coal-mines. 

The  grub  and  the  chrysalis  are  shown  in  the  lower  part  of  the  picture. 

Drawn  bv  T.  Car r eras. 


CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD- WORKERS     119 

Whether  the  fungus  had  prepared  the  wood  for 
the  beetle,  or  vice  versa,  is  an  open  question. 

Fir  wood  that  has  been  turned  into  rafters  often 
contains  the  larvae  of  Hylotrupes  bajulus ;  and  as  the 
perfect  beetle  that  makes  its  exit  therefrom  is 
about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  long,  it  will  be 
understood  that  considerable  damage  is  done. 
Not  only  is  the  grub  gifted  with  good  cutting  tools, 
but  the  beetle  in  making  its  escape  from  the  scene 
of  its  larval  industry  is  able  to  cut  through  obstacles. 
Sometimes  the  rafters  are  in  a  roof  which  is 
covered  with  sheet  lead,  but  if  this  lead  is  across 
the  path  of  the  beetle  that  is  eager  to  make  its 
first  acquaintance  with  light  and  air  the  lead  must 
be  perforated  by  the  beetle's  jaws. 

The  Rev.  W.  Kirby  mentions  that  he  received 
from  Sir  Joseph  Banks  a  piece  of  sheet  lead  that 
had  been  so  drilled.  The  piece  was  only  eight 
inches  long  by  four  broad,  but  in  that  small  area 
there  were  no  fewer  than  twelve  oval  holes,  of 
which  the  longer  diameter  was  a  quarter  of  an 
inch.  In  most  cases  bad  plumber's  work  would 
be  set  down  as  the  cause  of  such  a  roof  leaking,  no 
one  thinking  of  ascribing  such  work  to  a  beetle. 
The  Timberman  (Acanihocinus  tedilis)  in  a  similar 
way  is  destructive  to  pit-props  in  coal-mines. 
Rhagium  inquisitor  bores  under  the  bark  of  willow 
and  ash,  and  Rhagium  bif  as  datum  burrows  in  the 
wood  of  pine-trees. 

A  species  of  Histeridcz,  found  on  the  Amazons, 
is  described  by  Bates,  not  so  much  as  a  carpenter, 


120   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

but  as  the  carpenter's  gimlet.  This  beetle  (Try- 
fian&us)  differs  from  most  of  its  congeners  in  being 
cylindrical.  Its  object  is  to  tap  the  burrows  of 
other  wood  borers  and  eat  them  in  their  retreats. 
He  says,  "  They  drill  holes  into  solid  wood,  and 
look  like  tiny  animated  gimlets  when  at  work,  their 
pointed  heads  being  fixed  in  the  wood,  whilst  their 
smooth,  glossy  bodies  work  rapidly  round,  so  as  to 
create  little  streams  of  sawdust  from  the  holes." 

But  enough  of  these  carpenter  beetles ;  we  must 
glance  at  a  few  moths  whose  caterpillars  have 
adopted  this  industry  as  a  livelihood.  First  of 
these,  on  account  of  its  superior  size,  is  the  larva 
of  the  Goat  Moth  (Trypanus  cossus),  which  ordinarily 
attains  a  length  of  four  inches,  with  a  thickness  of 
half  an  inch.  It  spends  three  years  boring  tunnels 
into  the  heart  of  sound  trees,  including  poplar, 
willow,  oak,  elm,  and  ash.  So  vigorous  a  tree  as 
an  oak  may  take  several  generations  of  Goat  cater- 
pillars to  kill,  but  when  the  tree  is  dead  the  cater- 
pillars are  said  to  leave  it.  Before  each  winter  it 
hollows  out  a  space  in  its  tunnel,  and  spins  a  com- 
fortable temporary  cocoon  in  which  it  lies  inactive 
during  the  cold  weather. 

When  full-fed  it  leaves  its  burrow,  and  seeks 
about  for  light  loose  material  in  which  to  spin  its 
final  cocoon.  This  may  be  in  some  rotten  wood 
of  the  tree  whose  hard  parts  it  has  been  eating, 
but  as  a"  rule  it  has  to  wander  away  to  find  what 
it  wants.  At  such  times  (in  autumn)  one  may  find 
them  wandering  about  roads.  On  one  occasion,  in 


CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD- WORKERS    121 

Ireland,  in  company  with  Mr.  H.  J.  Turner,  F.E.S., 
we  came  across  a  poplar-tree  on  the  bank  of  the 
river  Nore  which  was  completely  riddled  by  this 
insect,  so  that  it  was  very  easy  to  tear  away  the 
wood  that  had  been  left  and  so  reveal  dozens  of  the 
larvae  of  various  sizes,  showing  that  several  genera- 
tions of  them  were  working  as  contemporaries. 
The  burrows  were  attended  by  hundreds  of  a  little 
beetle  (Soronia  punctatissima)  that  had  not  pre- 
viously been  found  in  Ireland.  They  were  feeding 
upon  the  frass  of  Cossus. 

The  Wood  Leopard  Moth  (Zeuzera  pyrina) 
tunnels  in  the  living  wood  of  apple,  pear,  elm,  poplar, 
and  horse-chestnut,  but  its  work  does  not  appear 
to  be  of  a  destructive  character ;  it  has  even  been 
declared  that  fruit-trees  attacked  by  it  bear  more 
abundantly  than  their  neighbours  that  are  not 
affected  by  it.  The  larva  spends  two  or  three 
years  in  the  tree,  pupating  in  its  burrow ;  and 
the  chrysalis  has  the  rings  of  its  body  furnished 
with  spines,  so  that  by  the  alternate  contraction 
and  expansion  of  its  segments  it  can  force  its  way 
towards  the  mouth  of  its  burrow  when  it  is  about 
to  assume  the  winged  condition. 

The  beautiful  little  moths  known  in  the  aggregate 
as  the  Clearwings  (Sesiidse),  are  all  carpenters  in 
the  larval  condition.  They  then  bear  a  very  close 
resemblance  to  the  grubs  of  wood-boring  beetles, 
but  when  they  have  reached  the  winged  condition 
they  are  more  likely  to  be  taken  for  hymenopterous 
insects  by  the  non-entomological  observer.  Most 


122   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

of  those  whose  life-history  is  known  in  detail  are 
larvae  for  nearly  two  years.  They  make  straight 
vertical  shafts  in  the  stems  or  roots.  One  of  the 
best  known  of  the  group  is  the  Currant  Clearwing 
(Sesia  tipuliformis),  which  bores  out  the  centre  of 
black  and  red  currant  stems,  entering  above  and 
working  towards  the  base  of  the  stem.  Just  before 
the  emergence  of  the  moth  the  chrysalis  works  its 
way  through  the  thin  skin-like  bark,  and  sticks 
out  some  distance. 

One  of  the  largest  of  this  group  is  the  Lunar 
Hornet  Clearwing  (Trocbilium  crabroniformis)^  which 
is  not  like  a  hornet,  as  its  names  indicate,  but  very 
like  a  wasp  when  the  insects  are  seen  apart.  Its 
caterpillar  mines  in  the  stems  of  willow,  sallow,  and 
poplar.  Before  becoming  a  chrysalis  the  cater- 
pillar prepares  for  the  egress  of  the  moth  by  carving 
a  way  out  to  the  air  and  spins  a  cap  for  the  exit 
in  which  it  so  artfully  mixes  up  some  fragments 
of  the  bark  that  the  cavity  can  scarcely  be  detected 
for  what  it  is. 

The  caterpillar  of  the  Light  Orange  Underwing 
(Bre-phos  notha)  becomes  a  carpenter  only  when  it 
has  nearly  reached  the  end  of  its  existence  as  a 
larva.  Up  till  then  it  feeds  upon  leaves  of  aspen, 
spinning  two  of  them  together  to  hide  it  from 
public  observation,  but  when  it  feels  that  its 
feeding  days  are  over  it  bores  into  the  bark  or  the 
sap-wood  beneath,  hiding  its  entrance  by  making 
a  cap  similar  to  that  of  the  Hornet  Clearwing, 
and  then  changes  into  a  chrysalis.  The  moth  has 


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CARPENTERS  AND  WOOD-WORKERS     123 

only  to  press  its  head  against  this  cap  to  push  it 
out. 

Before  concluding  this  chapter  a  word  should 
be  said  about  the  Saw-flies  (Tenthredinidae),  as 
nature  has  provided  them  with  saws,  though  as  a 
rule  they  only  use  them  upon  leaves  and  green 
shoots.  It  is  only  the  females  that  are  provided 
with  these  useful  tools,  and  they  use  them  for 
cutting  a  slit  in  which  to  deposit  their  eggs.  A  large 
kind  of  Saw-fly,  however,  known  as  the  Large 
Horn- tail  (Sir ex  gigas)  has,  instead,  a  powerful 
drill  with  which  she  bores  holes  in  the  bark  of 
pine-trees  for  the  purpose  of  laying  an  egg  in  each 
of  the  holes  she  drills.  The  drill  has  a  protecting 
sheath  in  which  it  lies  when  not  in  use.  It  is 
three-quarters  of  an  inch  long,  and  is  hinged  so  as 
to  be  used  at  right  angles  to  the  body.  The  grub 
which  issues  from  the  egg  is  a  notable  carpenter 
too,  but  it  works  with  its  jaws,  and  spends  several 
years  in  excavating  a  nice  long  tunnel  in  the  solid 
wood. 

It  often  happens  that  between  the  time  of  the 
egg-laying  and  the  completion  of  the  insect's 
development  the  woodman  has  come  along  and 
cut  down  the  tree ;  the  trunk  has  been  cut  up 
into  beams  or  flooring  planks  and  used  in  the 
construction  of  a  dwelling-house.  Then  in  due 
time  the  Horn- tail,  undisturbed  by  any  of  these 
happenings,  attempts  to  complete  its  destiny  by 
coming  forth  fully  winged.  But  the  builder  who 
used  the  wood  for  roofing  beams  laid  upon  them 


124   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

sheets  of  lead,  and  these  may  be  thought  to  block 
the  Horn-tail's  way.  But  not  so ;  the  perfect 
insect  has  jaws  as  good  as  the  grub,  and  it  makes 
no  fuss  about  a  sheet  of  lead  :  it  eats  a  way  through. 
It  has  even  been  known  to  eat  through  leaden  bullets 
that  barred  the  way  to  liberty,  and  has  gone  through 
a  bale  of  woollen  clothing  that  was  in  the  way  on 
another  occasion. 


V 

UPHOLSTERERS 


125 


V 
UPHOLSTERERS 

THERE  are  some  insects  that  exhibit  a  tendency  to 
luxury.  Many  there  are  that  finish  of?  their 
cocoons  with  a  delicate  polished  silken  lining  that 
the  pupa  shall  not  be  in  danger  of  injury  through 
any  roughness  in  its  surroundings ;  but  the  select 
few  to  which  we  now  propose  to  devote  a  few  words 
rely  not  upon  their  own  secretions  for  this  purpose, 
but  import  hangings  from  without.  We  have 
already  referred  to  the  fact  that  Odynerus  Icevi^es 
lines  her  nest  in  the  bramble-stem  with  a  coating 
of  fine  sand,  but  that  is  plasterer's  work,  and  will 
not  come  under  the  head  of  upholstery. 

The  little  solitary  bees  of  the  genus  Prosopis, 
however,  that  excavate  their  nests  in  the  stems  of 
brambles  and  other  plants,  line  the  cells  with  a 
luid  from  the,  mouth  which  hardens  into  a  delicate 
tissue  much  like  gold-beater's  skin,  but  finer. 
There  is  reason  for  this  in  the  fact  that  the  pro- 
vision for  the  food  of  the  future  grub  is  of  a  more 
iquid  nature  than  is  customary  with  the  solitary 
Dees.  This  usual  food  consists  of  pollen  to  which 

127 


128   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

sufficient  honey  is  added  to  enable  the  bee  to  knead 
it  into  a  pasty  lump.  Prosopis  is  without  any 
pollen-collecting  apparatus  on  the  legs ;  and  for 
this  reason  it  was  long  suspected  to  be  parasitical 
in  habit.  But  though  parasitism  has  been  shown 
by  Mr.  R.  C.  L.  Perkins  to  be  indulged  in  by  some 
of  the  numerous  Hawaian  species,  the  charge  does 
not  lie  against  our  native  species.  It  is  now  shown 
that  they  are  of  rather  primitive  organization,  and 
have  to  bring  home  their  pollen  and  honey  mixed— 
in  their  interiors — and  regurgitate  it  for  the  storing 
of  their  cells.  The  mixture  being  more  liquid  in 
character,  the  cells  are  lined  to  make  them  water- 
proof for  the  holding  of  it.  For  the  purpose  of 
laying  on  this  material  evenly  the  tongue  is  specially 
developed  into  a  somewhat  triangular  organ,  broad 
in  front. 

In  the  neighbouring  genus,  Colletes,  although  the 
bees  make  their  burrows  in  the  ground,  their  cells 
are  lined  with  the  same  material.  They  are  less 
primitive  than  Prosopis,  and  have  the  legs  well 
clothed  with  hairs,  but  they  have  a  similar- shaped 
tongue  and  mix  a  good  deal  of  honey  with  their 
pollen.  They  bring  home  a  great  quantity  of 
pollen,  but  this  is  mixed  with  so  much  honey 
that,  according  to  Shuckard,  the  mass  ferments, 
but  is  nevertheless  consumed  by  the  grub  without 
any  evil  results,  the  more  liquid  portion  being 
eaten  first,  the  more  solid  later. 

Speaking  of  the  upholstery  work,  this  author 
says  :  "  But  the  beauty  with  which  these  cells  are 


UPHOLSTERERS  129 

formed  transcends  conception.  Each  consists  of  a 
succession  of  layers  of  a  membrane  more  delicate 
than  the  thinnest  gold-beater's  skin,  and  more 
lustrous  than  the  most  beautiful  satin.  In  glitter 
it  much  resembles  the  trail  left  by  the  snail,  and  is 
evidently,  from  all  experiments  made,  a  secretion 
of  the  insect  elaborated  from  some  special  food  it 
consumes ;  and  by  means  of  its  bilobated  tongue, 
which  it  uses  as  a  trowel,  it  plasters  with  it  the 
sides  and  the  bottom  of  the  tube  it  has  excavated 
to  the  extent  necessary  for  one  division.  As  this 
secretion  dries  rapidly  to  a  membrane,  it  is  succeeded 
by  others,  to  the  number  of  three  or  four,  which 
may  be  separated  from  each  other  by  careful 
manipulation.  It  then  stores  this-  cell,  deposits 
the  egg,  and  proceeds  to  close  it  with  a  covercle 
of  double  the  number  of  membranes  with  which 
the  sides  are  furnished,  and  continues  with  another 
in  a  similar  manner,  until  it  has  completed  sufficient 
to  fill  the  tubular  cavity,  and,  after  closing  the 
last  case  similarly  to  the  rest,  it  stops  up  the  orifice 
with  grains  of  sand  or  earth." 

The  Carder  Bee  (Anthidium  manicatum)  is  one 
of  the  upholsterers  that  go  abroad  for  their  materials, 
and  her  decoration  takes  more  the  character  of 
tapestry.  She  is  a  larger  bee  than  those  just 
named,  her  body  half  an  inch  long,  and  the  spread 
of  wings  an  inch.  She  is  too  large  for  bramble- 
stem  exploration,  and  does  not  appear  to  relish 
hard  manual  labour  such  as  is  involved  in  digging  a 
shaft  in  the  earth ;  so  she  looks  out  for  the  disused 


INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

tunnel  of  some  other  insect,  such  as  the  Musk  Beetle 
or  the  Goat  Moth,  and  appropriates  it  to  her  own 
use. 

This  is  the  insect  to  which  Gilbert  White  refers 
in  the  following  passage,  though  he  did  not  know 
its  name  :  "  There  is  a  sort  of  wild  bee  frequenting 
the  garden  campion  for  the  sake  of  its  tomentum, 
which  probably  it  turns  to  some  purpose  in  the 
business  of  nidification.  It  is  very  pleasant  to  see 
with  what  address  it  strips  off  the  pubes,  running 
from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  a  branch,  and 
shaving  it  bare  with  the  dexterity  of  a  hoop-shaver. 
When  it  has  got  a  bundle,  almost  as  large  as  itself, 
it  flies  away,  holding  it  secure  between  its  chin 
and  its  fore  legs." 

In  addition  to  the  plant  mentioned  by  White, 
the  Carder  Bee  gathers  her  cotton-wool  from  the 
corn-cockle,  the  quince,  and  other  plants  with 
downy  leaves  and  stems.  With  this  she  lines  the 
cavity  selected  for  her  operations,  and  forms  her 
cells  in  it,  coating  the  inside  of  the  cells  with 
cement  to  enable  them  to  hold  the  pollen-honey 
mixture  with  which  she  next  stores  them.  This 
is  the  only  British  species,  and  even  here  it '  is 
restricted  to  the  southern  part  of  the  Island,  but 
there  are  others  on  the  Continent.  Fabre  has 
described  the  work  of  Anthidium  diadema,  which 
forms  its  nests  in  hollow  reeds,  much  after  the 
fashion  adopted  by  our  species.  The  grub  befa 
pupation  constructs  a  cocoon  of  its  own  frass  con- 
nected by  silk.  At  one  end  it  is  provided  with  a 


UPHOLSTERERS  131 

perforated  conical  extension  which  Fabre  surmises 
to  be  to  admit  air. 

Anthidium  seftemdentatum  makes  its  cells  in  an 
empty  snail-shell,  and  shuts  off  the  narrower  whorls 
by  a  wall  of  resin  collected  from  plants.  In  the 
remaining  space  which  conchologists  term  the 
body-whorl  she  constructs  a  couple  of  cells,  separ- 
ated by  a  wall  of  resin,  and  in  each  stores  pollen 
and  honey  with  an  egg.  The  mouth  of  the  shell 
is  blocked  with  pellets  of  earth,  little  stones,  or 
such  other  material  as  may  be  handy.  A.  bellicosum 
has  similar  habits  to  the  last-mentioned,  but  it 
does  not  occupy  the  body- whorl ;  in  consequence 
it  sometimes  happens  that  a  species  of  Osmia  builds 
her  nest  in  the  mouth  of  a  shell  and  blocks  up  the 
Anthidium.  As  the  latter  is  ready  to  leave  its  cell 
before  the  Osmia  has  completed  its  transformations, 
the  Anthidium  dies  a  prisoner  in  its  cell. 

But  the  insects  that  are  most  fully  entitled  to 
the  name  of  upholsterers  are  the  Leaf-cutter  Bees 
(Megachile).  These  have  long  been  known,  not 
only  to  naturalists,  but  also  to  every  one  who  has 
grown  roses,  for  every  rose-garden  furnishes  evi- 
dence of  the  skill  with  which  these  bees  cut  out 
circular  and  oval  pieces  for  the  lining  of  their 
cells.  Sometimes  the  foliage  of  one  particular 
rose-bush  is  specially  attacked,  and  the  rose-grower 
who  takes  pride  in  the  general  perfection  of  his 
plants — leaf  as  well  as  flower — is  rather  emphatic 
in  his  denunciation  of  the  "  pest  "  that  has  wrought 
this  havoc.  All  round  the  edges  of  his  rose-leaves 


132   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

and  extending  far  in  towards  the  midrib,  pieces 
have  been  cleanly  cut  out.  Where  one  plant  has 
suffered  almost  alone  in  this  respect,  it  will  almost 
certainly  be  one  of  the  varieties  known  as  tea-roses, 
the  firm,  glossy  leaf  apparently  being  more  suitable 
for  the  purpose  than  any  other. 

All  the  Leaf-cutter  Bees,  however,  do  not  select 
rose-leaves  for  their  purpose ;  the  species  that  do 
so  mostly  are  Willughby's  Leaf-cutter  (Megachile 
willughbiella)  and  the  Patchwork  Leaf-cutter  (M. 
centuncularis).  The  first  named  usually  makes  its 
nests  by  boring  deep  wells  in  the  soft  wood  of  an 
old  willow,  and  sometimes  instead  of  rose-leaves 
selects  those  of  the  laburnum  for  its  depredations.' 
The  manner  in  which  most  of  the  species  work  has 
been  well  described  by  Shuckard.  He  says  : 

"  The  cylindrical  tube  being  prepared,  which  is 
done  very  similarly  to  the  way  in  which  it  is  prac- 
tised by  all  the  labouring  genera,  by  the  gradual 
removal  of  the  particles  of  the  wood,  or  sand,  or 
earth  of  which  it  consists,  the  insect's  instinct 
prompts  it  to  fly  forth  to  obtain  the  necessary 
lining,  that  the  lateral  earth  may  not  fall  in,  or  the 
wood  taint  the  store  to  be  accumulated  for  the 
young,  for  it  is  before  this  is  done  that  the  upholstery 
is  commenced.  Having  fixed  upon  the  preferred 
plant,  rose-bush  or  laburnum  or  sallow7,  or 
whatever  it  may  be,  it  alights  upon  the  leaf,  and 
fixing  itself  upon  the  edge,  it  holds  it  with  three 
legs  on  each*  side ;  then  using  its  mandibles  as  the 
cutter  of  silhouettes  would  his  scissors,  and,  just 


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UPHOLSTERERS  133 

as  rapidly  as  he  cuts  out  a  profile,  does  this  ingenious 
little  creature  ply  the  tools  it  is  furnished  with  by 
nature.  The  oval  or  semicircular  cutting  being 
thus  speedily  dispatched,  with  the  legs  still  clinging 
to  the  surfaces,  the  insect  biting  its  way  backwards, 
the  piece  cut  off  necessarily  remains  within  the 
clutch  of  the  legs,  and  when  about  falling  the 
rejoicing  labourer  expands  her  wings  and  flies  off 
with  it  with  a  hum  of  delightful  triumph,  the 
cutting  being  carried  perpendicularly  to  her  body. 

"  In  a  direct  line  she  wings  her  way  to  the  recep- 
tacle, and  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  aperture 
within  which  she  has  to  convey  it,  she  rolls  it  to  its 
requisite  tubular  form  and  thrusts  it  forward  to 
the  bottom  of  the  cavity.  The  first  piece  for  the 
lining  of  the  cell  is  always  oval  and  larger  in  pro- 
portion to  the  succeeding  ones,  which,  to  the  number 
of  three  or  four,  are  semicircular,  the  first  piece 
having  an  extra  use  to  serve  in  forming  a  concave 
bottom  to  the  cavity. 

"  Having  completed  the  requisite  manipulation 
for  adjusting  to  shape  the  external  lining  of  the 
bottom  and  sides  of  the  first  cell,  she  withdraws 
backwards,  again  flies  off,  and,  as  if  she  had  traced 
a  trail  in  the  air,  .  .  .  back  she  wends  to  the  same 
plant,  and  proximately  to  the  spot  of  her  recent 
triumphant  exploit  renews  the  operation,  but  the 
result  of  which,  this  time,  is  to  be  semicircular. 
Home  she  flies  again,  and  the  arrangement  within 
of  this  piece  is  different  [from]  that  of  the  first, 
for  this  is  simply  tubular,  and  so  placed  that  it 


134   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

intricates  with,  its  cut  margin  within  the  serrated 
edge  of  the  first  and  the  third,  and  in  case  of  a  fourth 
the  fcurth  also  is  similarly  placed,  so  that  one  laps 
within  the  other,  the  edges  of  two  of  these  cuttings 
never  being  conterminous.  The  number  of  the 
cuttings  is  apparently  regulated  by  the  drier  or 
mcister  condition  of  the  substance  in  which  the 
tunnel  is  drilled. 

"  Another  duty  has  now  to  be  performed,  indeed, 
that  for  which  all  the  preceding  labours  were 
undertaken — the  provision  for  its  young,  wherein 
it  perpetuates  its  kind.  .  .  .  Having  completed  the 
requisite  store  of  honey  mixed  with  pollen,  this  is 
carried  to  the  brush  with  which  the  under  side  of 
the  abdomen  is  furnished,  by  means  of  the  posterior 
legs.  The  honey  and  pollen  are  gathered  from 
different  kinds  of  thistles,  whence  it  acquires  a 
reddish  hue,  and  looks  almost  like  conserve  of  roses, 
and  the  nest  is  filled  with  it  to  within  a  line  of  its 
top  ;  the  egg  is  then  deposited,  but  the  coating 
of  leaves,  which  encloses  the  cell  completely,  secures 
the  store  from  lateral  absorption,  although  the 
mixture  is  rather  more  fluid,  consisting  of  a  relatively 
greater  quantity  of  honey  than  is  usual,  excepting 
perhaps  in  the  case  of  Ceratina,  and  although  no 
viscous  secretion  is  used  to  bind  the  leaves  together, 
which  retain  their  position  from  merely  lateral 
pressure. 

"  The  cell  has  now  to  be  closed,  and  the  artificer, 
knowing  that  the  transverse  section  of  the  cell  is 
circular,  again  flies  forth,  and  without  compass, 


UPHOLSTERERS  135 

but  with  all  the  accuracy  with  which  Leonardo  da 
Vinci  struck  a  circle  with  his  pencil,  to  testify  his 
mastery,  cuts  the  leaf  again  in  that  form,  and  as 
surely  :  and  three  or  four,  or  five  or  six  times, 
repeats  this  operation,  returning  each  time  with 
each  piece,  so  many  having  been  variously  observed. 
The  separation  between  the  cells  being  thus  con- 
solidated, it  is  further  thickened  by  the  lateral, 
spare,  protruding  edge  of  the  leaf  first  introduced 
lapping  over  it." 

In  the  same  manner  other  cells,  to  the  number 
of  four  or  five,  are  formed  above  the  first,  and 
any  space  remaining  in  the  tube  is  filled  up  with 
earth.  The  bee  then  bores  another  tube,  and 
repeats  the  process  until  her  eggs  are  exhausted. 
When  the  larva  has  consumed  its  food-store  it 
spins  a  lustrous  silken  cocoon  attached  to  the 
hangings  of  its  cells,  and  undergoes  the  changes 
into  chrysalis  and  perfect  bee. 

Our  other  native  species  proceed  in  a  similar 
manner,  though  some  of  them  work  in  different 
materials.  Thus  M.  circumcincta  makes  her  ex- 
cavations in  the  ground  of  banks,  but  lines  them 
with  rose-leaves ;  M.  argentata  mines  in  sand,  and 
sometimes  uses  the  leaves  of  the  bird's-foot  trefoil 
(Lotus  corniculatus)  for  her  cells ;  M.  ligneseca,  like 
M.  willughbiella  and  M.  centuncularis,  make  theirs 
usually  in  wood,  and  M.  versicolor  has  been  found 
nesting  in  the  stumps  of  broom  (Sarothamnus 
scoparius).  M.  centuncularis  again  has  sometimes 
been  found  to  use  the  petals  of  the  garden  geranium 


136   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

for  her  upholstery ;  in  which  she  appears  to  come 
close  to  the  European  species,  Osmia  papaveris 
(formerly  included  in  this  genus),  which  lines  her 
cells  with  the  petals  of  the  Corn  Poppy  (Popaver 
r  hoe  as). 

M.  albocincta  usually  appropriates  a  burrow  of 
the  earthworm,  and  as  this  is  far  too  long  for  her 
purpose,  she  stops  it  at  the  proper  depth  by  a 
plug  of  leaves  on  which  she  builds  up  her  cells. 
Other  species  are  fully  alive  to  the  labour  saving 
effected  by  adapting  a  previously  existing  cylindrical 
hole  for  their  nesting-place.  Bamboos  used  for 
the  support  of  tall  plants  in  gardens  are  frequently 
taken  by  them ;  screw-holes,  pipes  of  small  bore, 
and  gun-barrels  also  come  handy. 

Osmia  papaveris,  to  which  we  have  already  briefly 
referred,  is  usually  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
corn-fields,  and  sinks  its  shafts  in  the  firm  earth  of 
roads  and  well-trodden  footpaths.  Cutting  semi- 
circular pieces  from  the  bright-red  petals  of  the 
poppy,  it  uses  them  in  much  the  same  manner  as 
Mega  chile  does  with  her  leaves ;  but  instead  of 
cutting  small  circles  for  capping  the  cells,  she  turns 
over  the  upper  edges  of  the  lining  pieces  to  effect 
the  closure. 


VI 
WAX-WORKERS 


137 


VI 

WAX-WORKERS 

THE  workers  in  wax  are  not  a  numerous  company, 
so  far  as  species  are  concerned ;  but  being  social 
insects  they  form  communities  -that  more  than 
make  up  for  paucity  of  species  by  the  abundance 
of  individuals.  These  communities  are  also  con- 
tinuous. With  the  Masons,  the  Miners,  and  the 
Carpenters,  the  clever  work  they  have  done  ceases 
to  be  useful  after  one  season's  use.  The  insects 
themselves  are  but  annuals.  The  workers  in  wax, 
on  the  other  hand,  are  perennial — that  is  to  say 
as  communities ;  the  workers  themselves,  other 
than  the  queen,  or  egg-laying  female,  are  no  longer 
lived  than  their  solitary  relations.  A  wild  com- 
munity of  Honey  Bees  in  a  cave  might  go  on  for 
ever. 

The  huge  difference  in  the  two  groups — social 
and  solitary — that  this  implies  has  been  brought 
about  solely  by  the  discovery  of  the  socials  that  if 
they  retained  honey  in  their  stomachs  their  vital 
chemistry  would  convert  it  into  wax.  But  for  this 
discovery  the  Honey  Bee  would  probably  never 
have  figured  largely  in  human  literature  as  she  has 

139 


140   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

done,  whilst  her  solitary  relatives,  equally  indus- 
trious, no  less  solicitous  for  the  interests  of  an 
unseen  progeny  and  the  continuance  of  the  race, 
have  been  utterly  ignored  save  by  a  handful  of 
naturalists.  But  for  this  discovery  man  would 
never  have  found  the  bee  worth  eulogizing  or  rob- 
bing— and  the  eulogies  have  been  directed  mainly 
to  her  habit  of  storing  up  honey  which  man  could 
appropriate  to  his  own  use.  The  discovery  of 
the  secret  of  wax-production  and  the  acquisition 
of  the  knowledge  of  its  ductibility  and  application 
to  the  use  of  the  community  have  made  all  the 
difference  to  the  Honey  Bee,  and — inter  alia — 
have  brought  her  completely  under  the  subjection 
of  man. 

Wax  is  a  costly  substance  to  produce,  from 
sixteen  to  twenty  pounds  of  honey  being  consumed 
to  make  one  pound  of  wax.  It  is  made  available 
for  use  by  its  secretion  by  glands  on  the  surface  of 
the  rings  on  the  under  side  of  the  hind  body. 
Here  it  appears  as  thin  scales  which  are  removed 
by  the  bee's  hind  legs  and  passed  to  the  mouth, 
where  the  wax  is  worked  up — possibly  with  the 
addition  of  saliva — into  a  condition  suitable  for 
the  use  of  those  who  have  to  build  up  the  comb 
and  model  the  six-sided  cells.  But  before  we  look 
further  into  the  economy  of  the  domesticated 
Honey  Bee  (Apis  mellifica),  let  us  glance  at  the 
wild  honey- storing  bees. 

In  tropical  countries  there  are  several  species  of 
wild  Honey  Bees  (Melipona)  which  make  their 


WAX-WORKERS  141 

nests  in  trees,  caves,  and  buildings,  in  the  latter 
case  often  becoming  a  nuisance.  We  have  already 
mentioned  the  Brazilian  species  that  gather  clay 
at  times  instead  of  pollen,  for  the  purpose  of  filling 
up  inconvenient  crevices  in  the  hollow  tree  they 
have  adopted  as  a  u  hive."  Bates  says  that  most 
of  the  South  American  species  of  Melipona  are 
workers  in  clay  as  well  as  in  wax,  and  they  appear 
to  use  it  as  our  bee  uses  propolis,  the  gummy 
varnish  scraped  from  the  leaf-buds  of  certain  trees 
and  the  stems  of  some  smaller  plants.  The  same 
naturalist  states  that  none  of  these  American  bees 
have  attained  to  that  high  degree  of  architectural 
skill  in  the  construction  of  their  comb  which  is 
shown  by  the  European  hive  bee.  The  wax  cells 
of  the  Melipon&  are  generally  oblong,  showing 
only  an  approximation  to  the  hexagonal  shape  in 
places  where  several  of  them  are  built  in  contact. 
These  bees  though  they  have  stings  cannor  use 
them — at  least  on  human  skin — because  their 
points  are  not  sharp  enough,  but  they  make  up 
for  this  defect  with  their  jaws  when  any  one  dis- 
turbs their  nests.  The  Indians,  of  course,  fre- 
quently do  this  to  obtain  honey,  which  the  nests 
contain  in  abundance.  Bates  saw  one  opened 
which  contained  a  couple  of  quarts  of  pleasantly 
tasted  liquid  honey,  and  the  Indian  who  obtained 
it  was  completely  covered  with  the  bees.  Gosse 
describes  one  of  these  "  stingless  "  bees,  known  in 
Jamaica  as  Angelitos  for  this  reason.  He  says 
that  they  keep  their  store  of  honey  in  the  lower 


142   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

part  of  the  nest,  away  from  the  brood-cells,  in  a 
cluster  of  cups  as  large  as  pigeon's  eggs. 

The  Dingar  or  Big  Bee  (Apis  dorsata)  of  India 
differs  from  these  Meliponas  in  the  fact  that  its 
sting  has  a  very  fine  and  practicable  point,  and  the 
bee  is  always  ready  to  use  it.  It  would  certainly 
have  no  chance  of  earning  an  Indian  name  equiva- 
lent to  Angelito  ;  and  it  is  execrated  by  archaeolo- 
gists on  account  of  its  reprehensible  habit  of 
attaching  its  enormous  combs  to  fine  buildings  like 
the  Taj  Mahal  at  Agra,  and  the  paintings  and 
sculptures  in  the  rock  temples  at  Ajanta.  It  also 
attaches  its  combs  to  the  under  side  of  the  hori- 
zontal branches  of  tall  trees,  such  as  the  cotton  tree 
(Bombax). 

These  combs,  according  to  Mr.  E.  P.  Stebbing, 
are  semi- elliptical  in  shape,  five  feet  long  and  two 
and  a  half  feet  in  breadth.  A  single  tree  may 
have  a  dozen  of  these  huge  combs  on  its  branches ; 
and  woe  to  the  newly  arrived  and  innocent  Euro- 
pean sportsman  who  "  between  beats "  indulges 
in  a  restful  pipe  under  one  of  these  trees.  The 
ascending  reek  of  burnt  tobacco  will  excite  the 
bees  to  fury,  and  they  will  descend  in  thousands, 
and  cause  the  valiant  sportsmen — probably  brave 
military  officers — to  beat  an  ignominious  retreat  at 
a  speed  unusual  in  that  climate.  One  well-known 
archaeologist  who  was  investigating  the  mural  art 
of  Ajanta  had  to  remain  in  the  river  for  hours,  up 
to  his  chin  in  water,  to  escape  the  fury  of  the 
resentful  bees  he  had  disturbed.  In  Murray's 


WAX-WORKERS  143 

Handbook  for  India,  travellers  visiting  the  caves 
of  Ellora  and  Ajanta  are  advised  to  supply  them- 
selves with  "  a  pair  of  stout  leather  gauntlets 
coming  up  above  the  wrist  half-way  to  the  elbow, 
and  a  light  wire-mask  with  a  back-piece  to  protect 
the  back  of  the  head  and  neck,  many  persons  having 
been  so  badly  stung  that  in  some  cases  death  has 
ensued."  Attempts  have  been  made  to  domesti- 
cate the  Dingar,  but  they  have  failed. 

So  extensive  a  literature  exists  upon  the  Honey 
Bee  (Afis  mellifica)  that  it  would  be  idle  to  attempt 
to  enter  into  details  of  its  economy  here ;  we  will 
only  deal  with  it  as  a  wax-worker. 

The  production  of  this  wax  by  the  worker  bees 
does  not  go  on  whilst  they  are  out  collecting 
honey  or  pollen,  or  whilst  they  are  attending  to 
the  brood  in  the  hive.  It  is  a  distinct  employ- 
ment, and  a  number  of  workers  appear  to  be 
temporarily  charged  with  this  function  apart  from 
other  duties,  and  it  takes  them  twenty-four  hours 
to  produce  the  plates  of  crude  wax.  A  peculiar 
rite  appears  to  be  essential  for  the  carrying  out 
of  this  wax  production,  though  why  it  is  necessary 
is  not  evident.  The  bees  have  to  hang  in  festoons 
attached  to  each  other  by  the  feet  only.  When 
wax  is  needed  these  festoons  hang  from  the  roof  of 
the  hive  wherever  there  is  room  for  them. 

A  festoon  is  formed  in  this  wise  :  a  couple  of 
bees  station  themselves  apart,  each  clinging  to  the 
roof  by  its  fore  feet  only ;  another  bee  will,  with 
its  fore  claws,  cling  to  the  hind  claws  of  the  first 


H4   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

one,  and  so  on  in  the  same  manner  until  two 
hanging  chains  of  bees  are  formed.  Then  the  two 
bottom  ones  cause  the  chains  to  swing  until  they 
can  hook  their  hinder  feet  together  to  form  a 
festoon.  So  they  hang  for  about  twenty-four 
hours,  when  the  festoon  breaks  up  and  the  bees 
which  composed  it  resort  to  the  cell-makers  and 
supply  them  with  the  material  for  their  work. 

When  the  wax-secreting  worker  has  brought  the 
thin  plates  from  the  abdominal  rings  to  her  jaws 
and  manipulated  them  into  true  bee's-wax  as  we 
know  it,  it  issues  from  the  mouth  as  a  thin  strip 
which  is  brought  to  the  cell-makers  and  applied 
by  them  to  the  walls  of  the  cells  now  under  con- 
struction, a  work  that  is  carried  on  with  great 
rapidity. 

A  considerable  amount  of  honey  is  converted 
into  only  a  small  quantity  of  wax,  and  therefore 
the  workers  use  it  with  parsimony.  There  is  no 
waste,  and  they  have  learned  to  make  the  maximum 
structure  out  of  the  minimum  of  material.  That 
is  the  reason  for  the  six-sided  shape  of  the  cell. 
All  the  solitary  bees,  as  we  have  shown,  make  their 
burrows  cylindrical,  based  upon  the  form  of  their 
bodies,  or  at  least  of  the  body  revolved  on  its  own 
axis,  as  they  have  to  revolve  in  finishing  off  their 
excavation. 

Now,  though  the  hexagonal  cell  admirably  fits 
the  cylindrical  body  of  the  bee-grub,  it  cannot  be 
modelled  upon  the  body  of  the  worker  bee.  If 
the  individual  cells  of  the  bee-comb  were  fashioned 


WAX-WORKERS  145 

separately,  and  then  a  number  of  them  were  brought 
together,  under  equal  pressure  they  would  form 
hexagons  ;  but  they  are  not  made  separately,  but 
are  built  in  mass,  and  every  part  of  the  walls  of 
one  cell  forms  part  of  the  wall  of  a  neighbouring 
cell.  This  is  even  so  with  the  base  of  the  cell, 
which  forms  part  of  the  base  of  three  other  cells 
on  the  other  side  of  the  comb.  To  human  artificers 
the  task  would  necessitate  a  resort  to  mathematics, 
but  the  worker  bee  issues  from  the  chrysalis  fully 
competent  to  undertake  the  task  without  swallow- 
ing the  books  of  Euclid,  and  without  even  parental 
instruction.  Pure  "  rule  of  thumb  "  practice,  but 
even  so  the  mathematicians  have  failed  to  find 
any  flaw  in  its  results ;  indeed,  there  is  a  well- 
known  record  of  a  mathematician's  work  being 
corrected  in  a  sense  by  the  bees. 

Maraldi,  a  famous  mathematician  in  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  took  an  interest 
in  bees,  and  invented  a  glass  hive  in  order  to  observe 
them  at  work.  He  found  that  the  bottoms  of  the 
cells  formed  an  inverted  pyramid  and  that  they 
were  hexagonal  like  the  walls,  but  formed  of  three 
lozenge-shaped  plates.  His  mathematical  mind 
was  curious  to  know  if  the  bees  were  mathematicians 
also,  so  accurate  did  the  work  appear  to  the  eye. 
So  with  great  care  he  measured  the  angles  of  these 
lozenges,  and  found  that  the  greater  angles  were 
109°  28',  and  the  lesser  ones  70°  32'. 

Reaumur,  who  knew  of  Maraldi's  calculations, 
and  suspected  that  such  precision  on  the  part  of 
10 


146    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

the  bee  had  relation  to  the  desire  for  economy  in 
the  use  of  the  precious  wax,  thought  to  test  the 
matter  from  that  point  of  view  by  propounding  this 
problem  to  Konig,  a  noted  geometrician  :  "  What 
should  be  the  angles  of  a  hexagonal  cell  with  a 
pyramidal  bottom  formed  of  three  similar  and 
equal  rhomboid  plates,  so  that  the  least  matter 
possible  might  enter  into  its  construction  ?  "  M. 
Konig,  it  should  be  explained,  knew  nothing  of 
Maraldi's  measurements.  Konig  employed  the  in- 
finitesimal calculus,  and  found  that  the  great 
angles  of  the  rhombs  should  be  109°  26'  and  the 
small  angles  70°  34'.  Here  was  a  surprising  agree- 
ment between  theory  and  practice  ! 

There  for  a  time  the  matter  rested,  and  then 
Maclaurin,  the  Scots  mathematician,  took  a  turn 
at  the  problem  propounded  to  Konig  by  Reaumur. 
The  result  he  arrived  at  agreed  precisely  with  the 
measurements  of  Maraldi ;  and  it  was  then  endea- 
voured to  discover  how  Konig  had  made  the  mis- 
take. It  was  found  that  the  book  of  logarithms 
he  had  used  as  the  basis  for  his  calculations  con- 
tained an  error  which  accounted  for  that  difference 
of  2'  in  his  results.  So  the  bees  led  to  the  cor- 
rection of  the  book  of  logarithms,  whose  error 
might  have  led  in  other  directions  to  lamentable 
results. 

The  comb  is  not  built  upwards  from  the  base 
but  downwards  from  the  roof.  A  small  quantity 
of  wax  is  deposited  by  one  bee,  to  which  others  add 
in  succession  until  sufficient  is  amassed  for  the 


PLATE  20 


HONEY-BEES  COMB-BUILDING 


Page  146 


The  comb  is  built  from  above  downwards.      The  bees  on  the  lower  edge 

are  constructing  new  cells;  those  above  are  finishing  off  the  margins  of 

the  cells  and  making  the  surface  of  the  comb  even. 

Photo  by  Tickner  Edicardes. 


PLATE  21 


HUMBLE-BEES'  NEST. 


Page  154 


The  lower  photo  shows  a  ground-built  nest  with  the  dome  of  shredded  grass  and 

mos§  removed.     In  the  upper  photo  a  cluster  of  cells,  mostly  vacated,  have  been 

taken  from  their  surroundings. 

Photos  by  Author. 


WAX-WORKERS  147 

commencement  of  operations.  Then  a  bee  begins 
to  excavate  in  it  the  foundation  of  a  cell.  She 
works  for  a  time,  and  then  goes  off,  another  worker 
taking  her  place  immediately  and  working  for  a 
spell.  No  one  bee,  therefore,  completes  a  cell, 
but  each  is  built  up  by  a  number  of  workers  doing 
a  little  in  succession.  When  the  bottom  begins 
to  take  form,  other  bees  work  at  a  corresponding 
cell  on  the  other  side  of  the  wax  wall.  It  will 
be  seen  that  these  three  lozenge-shaped  plates 
constituting  the  bottom  of  the  cell  have  each  two 
free  margins — six  in  all — and  it  is  by  building  up 
the  walls  from  these  margins  that  the  hexagonal 
form  of  the  cell  is  arrived  at.  As  the  work  of  the 
builders  proceeds,  the  workers  who  are  making 
wax  come  and  go,  leaving  additional  contributions 
of  wax  for  the  builders  to  manipulate. 

There  is  a  difference  in  the  size  of  the  cells 
according  to  the  use  to  which  they  are  to  be  put. 
Some  of  the  earlier  observers,  noticing  this  dis- 
crepancy in  size,  regarded  it  as  a  defect  in  the 
calculations  of  the  bees.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
difference  is  deliberately  designed.  The  cells  in- 
tended as  cradles  for  worker  grubs  have  a  diameter 
of  one- fifth  of  an  inch ;  those  for  males  or  drones  are 
a  quarter  of  an  inch ;  the  royal  cells  for  the  pro- 
duction of  future  queens  are  different  altogether 
from  these,  much  larger  and  of  different  form, 
jutting  out  from  the  comb  and  taking  a  downward 
direction.  They  are  somewhat  pear-shaped,  and 
about  five  times  larger  than  the  drone  cells.  There 


148   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

is  no  evidence  of  parsimony  in  the  construction 
of  the  royal  cell ;  the  precious  wax  is  lavished  here 
to  form  thick  walls,  rough  and  irregular  without, 
but  smooth  and  polished  within. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  economy  shown  in  build- 
ing the  ordinary  cells.  The  walls  are  so  thin  that 
light  passes  through  them,  but  those  of  the  queen 
cells  are  quite  opaque.  The  outer  edge  of  the 
ordinary  cell  is  thickened  into  a  sort  of  rim,  as 
this  has  to  be  subjected  to  much  friction  from 
the  feet  of  the  workers  frequently  passing  over  it, 
whilst  the  lower  parts  of  the  walls  are  supported 
by  the  mutual  pressure  of  the  honey  in  adjacent 
cells.  Roughly  speaking,  these  cells  may  be  said 
to  be  horizontal,  but  there  is  a  slight  inclination 
downward  from  the  mouth  to  the  base.  Although 
the  cells  are  in  this  position,  honey  does  not  run 
out,  chiefly  owing  to  capillary  attraction,  though 
it  might  do  so  in  very  hot  weather  when  the  honey 
becomes  more  fluid.  Until  a  cell  is  quite  full  of 
honey  it  cannot  be  capped,  and  it  will  be  easily 
understood  that  an  enormous  number  of  journeys 
is  required  before  the  little  workers  can  bring 
home  sufficient  honey  to  fill  one  cell. 

To  prevent  running,  the  workers  have  resort  to 
an  ingenious  device  :  they  obtain  a  little  honey 
from  one  of  their  first-filled  cells  which  is  of  a 
firmer,  denser  character,  owing  to  evaporation, 
and  this  is  made  to  float  upon  the  new  honey. 
In  places  remote  from  a  proper  water-supply 
system,  where  the  water  for  domestic  use  has  to  be 


WAX-WORKERS  149 

brought  from  spring  or  well,  this  is  usually  done  by 
means  of  a  couple  of  pails  and  a  yoke.  To  guard 
against  spilling  by  the  way  a  flat  piece  of  wood 
floats  upon  the  top  of  the  water  in  each  pail.  The 
disc  of  firmer  honey  serves  a  similar  purpose  in 
the  honey  cell. 

When  the  cell  is  full  the  workers  cap  it  with  a 
thin  sheet  of  wax  attached  to  the  edges.  In  other 
cells  pollen  is  stored  up  for  the  sustenance  of  the 
grubs,  the  workers  as  they  'return  from  excursions 
among  the  flowers  simply  dropping  their  collections 
into  the  cells  and  leaving  those  that  are  on  indoor 
duty  to  pack  it. 

When  the  brood  cells  are  ready  the  mother  bee 
(usually  styled  the  queen)  traverses  the  comb,  and 
lays  an  egg  in  each  cell.  She  appears  to  know  what 
is  the  character  of  each  egg  before  she  deposits  it. 
The  first  few  may  be  deposited  in  the  drone  cells, 
then  a  vast  number  is  laid  in  the  worker  cells.  The 
eggs  of  the  two  kinds  differ  in  size,  just  as  the  cells 
do.  In  April  and  May  she  will  lay  eggs  at  the 
rate  of  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand  a  week, 
and  continue  doing  so.  In  six  weeks  she  has  furn- 
ished ten  or  twelve  thousand  cells  with  occupants, 
and  during  the  whole  of  one  season  will  lay  thirty 
or  forty  thousand  eggs.  During  her  life  she  may 
produce  as  many  as  a  hundred  thousand. 

The  eggs  hatch  after  three  days,  and  the  minute 
grubs  are  at  once  tended  by  the  nurse  bees,  who 
feed  them  with  bee  bread,  which  is  a  compound  of 
pollen  and  honey.  On  this  diet  the  grub  thrives, 


150   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

and  when  only  five  days  old  it  is  full-fed  and  fills 
the  cell.  The  nurse  bees  then  close  the  cell  with 
a  cap  made  of  wax  and  pollen,  which  is  porous  and 
admits  the  air.  The  grub  then  spins  its  cocoon, 
and  changes  into  the  chrysalis  condition.  About  a 
fortnight  later  it  appears  as  a  winged  worker,  and 
rests  for  half  a  day  to  allow  its  integuments  to 
harden,  after  which  it  is  ready  to  take  up  duty  as  a 
nurse  or  other  indoor  worker.  The  evolution  of 
the  drone  follows  much  the  same  course,  but,  so 
far  as  information  goes,  when  it  emerges  as  a  bee, 
bigger  than  a  worker  and  with  compound  eyes 
that  meet  on  the  top  of  the  head,  it  does  no  work 
beyond  taking  part  in  the  ventilation  of  the  hive 
by  fanning  with  its  wings. 

The  "  royal "  cells  are  mere  cups  when  the 
eggs  are  laid  in  them.  In  three  days  also  these  are 
hatched,  and  the  nurse  bees  drench  the  young 
grub  with  a  special  food,  the  "  royal  jelly.5 '  As 
the  grub  grows,  the  cell  walls  are  built  up,  and 
in  five  days  full  growth  is  completed,  when  the 
cell  is  finished  and  sealed  up  for  a  fortnight,  by 
which  time  the  female  bee  issues  from  her  chrysalis 
skin,  and  is  soon  ready  if  need  be  to  accompany 
a  swarm  to  found  a  new  colony.  Or  she  may  be 
killed  before  emergence  by  her  jealous  mother. 

Whilst  on  the  subject  of  wax  we  ought  to  men- 
tion that  for  less  important  uses,  such  as  stopping 
cracks,  or  sealing  up  the  bodies  of  invaders  whom 
they  have  killed  but  cannot  remove,  they  use  a 
substance  to  which  the  ancients  gave  the  name 


WAX-WORKERS  151 

of  propolis.  This  is  the  gummy  secretion  gathered 
from  the  leaf-buds  of  poplars,  horse-chestnut,  pines, 
and  the  stems  of  other  plants.  They  take  it  home 
as  they  do  pollen,  in  the  baskets  on  their  hind  legs  ; 
but  they  cannot  discharge  their  loads  of  propolis 
as  they  do  their  pollen  :  it  is  so  sticky  that  it  has 
to  be  pulled  off  by  other  workers. 

Other  wax  workers  will  be  found  in  the  Humble 
or  Bumble  Bees  (Bombus),  which  are  also  social, 
the  community  again  consisting  of  workers  or 
incomplete  females,  drones,  and  one  or  more 
perfect  females.  As  compared  with  the  Honey 
Bee  the  Humble  Bee  is  a  burly  giant,  whose  re- 
appearance in  spring  is  always  welcomed  as  she  goes 
about  the  earliest  blossoms  and  lets  the  world 
know  by  her  cheerful  humming  that  she  is  return- 
ing to  activity.  These  early  bees  are  always  females 
that  have  lain  in  a  torpid  state  through  the  winter 
in  some  cosy  nook,  and  have  temporarily  emerged 
for  the  refreshment  that  sallow  catkins  afford. 

But  the  Humble  Bee  community  is  a  very  small 
affair  in  comparison  with  that  of  the  Honey  Bee. 
As  you  stand  under  a  sallow- tree  in  March  and 
listen  to  the  organ-like  volume  of  music  that 
emanates  from  the  hundreds  of  Humble  Bees  that 
are  gathering  nectar  from  the  flowers — the  so-called 
"  palm  " — you  may  be  excused  for  regarding  them 
as  a  "  swarm  "  akin  to  the  swarms  of  Honey  Bees. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  every  individual  of  that  host 
is  an  independent  female,  each  the  possible  founder 
of  a  new  and  separate  colony.  When  they  have 


1 52   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

filled  their  honey-bags,  each  goes  back  to  her 
hibernaculum  to  sleep  again  until  May.  Then 
she  looks  about  for  a  deserted  mouse- nest  or  other 
su  able  retreat,  and  lays  the  foundations  of  her 
colony  that  is  to  be.  This  may  be  either  on  the 
surface  protected  by  grass,  or  underground  at  the 
end  of  a  tunnel — often  a  yard  long.  Different 
species  have  their  own  special  tastes  in  this  matter. 

The  Humble  Bees  are  not  nearly  so  eminent  as 
wax-workers  as  are  their  cousins  of  the  hive,  for 
they  build  no  proper  combs.  They  produce  little 
wax,  and  that  exudes  from  under  the  rings  on'  the 
back,  not  from  the  under  surface  as  in  the  Honey 
Bee.  The  wax,  too,  is  brown  in  colour,  and  much 
softer  than  that  of  the  Honey  Bee. 

It  is  the  custom  to  speak  of  the  fertile  female 
Humble  Bee  as  a  queen  just  as  one  speaks  of  her 
equivalent  in  the  hive ;  but  there  is  a  great  differ- 
ence between  them.  The  queen  bee  is  a  mere 
layer  of  unlimited  eggs  :  she  is  too  regal  to  be 
domestic.  We  prefer  to  speak  of  the  founder  of 
the  Humble  Bee  colony  by  the  higher  title  of  mother 
bee.  She  is  a  real  mother  with  the  maternal 
instincts  highly  developed.  Unaided,  she  lays  the 
foundations  of  the  family,  incubates  her  eggs, 
nestles  and  feeds  her  brood,  and  when  she  has 
reared  a  bevy  of  infertile  daughters  to  help  her 
she  still  takes  part  in  all  this  work  so  long  as  her 
physical  powers  allow  her  to  do  so. 

Having  selected  a  suitable  site,  she  sets  to  work 
to  prepare  the  nest.  If  it  is  an  abandoned  nest 


WAX- WORKERS  153 

of  the  field  mouse,  she  probably  finds  it  already 
provided  with  material  suited  for  her  use.  This 
will  consist  of  half-rotted  grass,  finely  divided  and 
cut  into  short  lengths.  The  mouse  is  very  par- 
ticular in  the  selection  of  material,  taking  the 
withered  blades  from  the  base  of  a  tussock  and 
dividing  them  lengthwise  as  well  as  cross-wise  in 
order  to  have  them  perfectly  ductile  and  capable 
of  felting.  This  also  is  the  quality  of  material  the 
Humble  Bee  likes.  Sometimes  she  mixes  fragments 
of  fine  moss  with  it,  probably  to  increase  its  springi- 
ness. All  this  material  is  taken,  bit  by  bit,  in  her 
jaws,  passed  by  her  two  hinder  pairs  of  legs  under 
her  body  and  accumulated  behind  her.  Then  she 
pierces  a  tunnel  to  its  centre,  where  she  hollows 
out  a  small  oval  chamber.  Her  home  is  ready  for 
furnishing. 

She  next  sets  off  on  a  hunt  among  the  flowers, 
and  comes  back  a  little  later  with  her  thighs  bulging 
with  masses  of  pollen  and  her  honey-crop  filled 
with  nectar.  She  brushes  off  the  pollen  in  a 
little  heap  upon  the  floor  of  her  nest  and  moistens 
it  with  honey ;  then  with  her  jaws  kneads  it  into 
a  paste  which  she  builds  up  into  a  solid  mass.  Upon 
this  she  constructs  a  ring- like  wall  of  wax — her 
first  cell,  of  which  the  pollen  mass  forms  the  floor. 
In  this  cell  she  lays  about  a  dozen  eggs,  and  then 
closes  in  the  top  with  a  dome  of  wax.  She  also 
constructs  a  pot  of  thin  wax  to  contain  honey, 
which  is  placed  in  the  doorway  of  the  nest-chamber 
and  filleci  with  honey.  The  honey-pot  is  about 


154    INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

half  an  inch  across  and  about  three-quarters  of  an 
inch  deep.  This  filled,  she  is  ready  for  the  possible 
advent  of  a  bad  day  when  she  cannot  steal  a  few 
minutes  from  her  nursing  duties  to  fly  to  the 
nearest  flowers  and  obtain  food. 

She  now  takes  up  her  station  over  her  cell,  with 
her  face  to  the  door,  and  actually  incubates  her 
eggs.  The  grubs  hatch  out  on  the  fourth  day, 
and  set  to  work  feeding  upon  the  floor  of  the  cell. 
Each  scoops  out  for  itself  a  hollow  in  the  pollen- 
mass,  and  so  that  they  shall  not  cut  through  it  to 
the  exterior  the  mother  bee  collects  more  pollen 
and  plasters  it  all  around  the  original  heap.  She 
also  makes  a  semi-fluid  mess  of  pollen  and  honey, 
and  cutting  a  hole  in  the  wax  lid  drops  the  mixture 
in  upon  the  grubs. 

Between  these  necessary  expeditions  for  collecting 
food  she  sits  upon  the  brood  mass,  from  which  she 
can  reach  with  her  long  tongue  to  the  honey-pot  at 
such  times  as  she  requires  food  for  herself.  Much 
of  this  is  used  up  in  the  production  of  heat  to  keep 
up  the  temperature  of  the  nest  night  and  day. 
The  honey-pot  is  always  undergoing  changes  when 
it  is  in  use.  When  full  it  is  relatively  tall  and  has 
a  small  mouth.  As  the  honey  gets  low  so  do  the 
walls  of  the  pot  in  agreement,  and  when  it  is 
refilled  the  walls  are  built  up  again.  But  after 
about  a  month,  when  there  are  workers  about  to 
assist  the  mother,  the  waxen  pot  is  neglected  and 
falls  into  ruin.  The  honey  is  of  a  more  fluid 
character  than  that  stored  by  the  Honey  Bee. 


WAX-WORKERS  155 

The  legless  larvae  when  they  are  about  five  days 
old  increase  the  size  of  the  hollows  in  which  they 
repose,  each  occupying  its  own  cell  in  the  pollen 
mass,  and  two  days  later  spinning  a  tough  papery 
cocoon.  The  mother  about  this  time  clears  away 
the  brown  wax  she  has  been  continually  adding 
to  for  the  protection  of  the  grubs,  and  reveals  the 
upper  ends  of  all  these  cocoons  standing  side  by 
side.  A  depression  runs  through  the  middle  of 
the  group  which  indicates  where  the  mother's 
body  has  lain  in  her  brooding  vigils.  This  groove 
she  still  continues  to  occupy,  for  her  offspring  still 
need  warmth  to  help  their  development  even 
when  they  have  changed  into  chrysalides. 

On  the  twenty-second  or  twenty-third  day  after 
the  eggs  were  laid  she  has  the  reward  for  all  her 
labour,  for  the  chrysalides  develop  into  bees  and 
begin  to  bite  through  the  tops  of  the  cocoons  and 
emerge.  In  this  they  are  assisted  by  the  mother, 
who  enlarges  the  openings  to  make  their  exit 
easier.  The  newly  emerged  bees  are  all  small 
workers,  and  as  soon  as  their  legs  and  wings  have 
become  firm  and  their  wetted  matted  coats  are 
dry,  they  begin  to  assist  the  mother  in  collecting 
provisions  for  their  larval  sisters.  For  all  this 
time  the  mother  bee  has  been  making  other  cells 
and  filling  them  with  eggs,  so  that  the  broods  come 
on  with  intervals  of  only  two  or  three  days  between 
them. 

The  new  workers  start  collecting  out-of-doors 
when  only  three  or  four  days  old,  and  do  their 


156   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

work  at  once  as  though,  they  had  been  trained  to 
it.  Every  few  days  they  are  joined  by  later  emer- 
gences— all  workers  for  a  time.  Later  the  mother 
lays  eggs  which  produce  males  and  females.  The 
cells  for  the  second  and  later  batches  of  eggs  are 
built  on  the  sides  of  the  taller  cocoons,  so  that 
they  can  derive  warmth  from  the  mother's  body 
as  she  is  imparting  it  to  her  first  brood.  It  is 
to  this  arrangement  that  the  higgledy-piggledy 
appearance  of  the  nest  at  the  end  of  the  season 
is  due. 

Later  in  the  season  when  the  mother  bee  is 
getting  enfeebled  the  older  workers  take  to  laying 
virgin  eggs,  but  these  only  produce  males.  The 
sexual  bees  produced  by  the  mother  earlier  in 
the  season  are  all  much  smaller  than  those  produced 
in  early  autumn,  upon  which  the  continuance  of 
the  race  depends.  For  the  Humble  Bee  com- 
munities all  come  to  an  end  before  winter,  and  the 
future  of  the  species  depends  upon  the  young 
fertile  females  who  go  into  hibernation,  and  are 
ready  to  begin  egg-laying  in  spring. 

These  Humble  Bees,  of  which  there  are  many 
species — seventeen  of  them  natives  of  our  own 
Islands — differ  in  •  their  nesting  habits,  some,  as 
indicated,  going  underground,  whilst  a  few,  known 
as  Carder  Bees,  form  their  nests  in  slight  hollows 
of  the  surface,  covering  them  with  domes  of  felted 
moss  and  grass.  These  Carders  are  much  less 
numerous  in  individuals  than  the  subterranean 
builders.  Smith  says  that  the  communities  of 


WAX-WORKERS  157 

Bombus  terrestris — an  underground  builder — are  the 
most  numerous.  One  such  nest  he  fbund  to 
contain  107  males,  560  females,  and  180  workers; 
a  surface  builder's  nest — of  Bombus  sylvarum  or  B. 
agrorum — would  contain  about  half  these  numbers 
of  inmates. 

The  empty  cocoons  from  which  came  the  first 
batch  of  workers  are  utilized  by  them  for  the  storage 
of  pollen,  and  by  some  species  as  honey-pots  for 
the  immediate  use  of  the  commonwealth.  We 
have  mentioned  the  readiness  of  the  underground 
builders  to  adapt  a  mouse's  nest  and  run  to  their 
own  purposes ;  and  the  surface  builders  are  not 
above  similar  economy  of  labour.  We  have  found 
them  making  use  of  a  field  vole's  nest.  They  are 
not  likely  to  take  possession  of  such  places  before 
they  have  been  abandoned  by  the  original  owners, 
for  mice  are  great  enemies  to  the  brood,  though 
they  know  better  than  to  make  an  attack  when  the 
bees  are  at  home. 

Smith  has  recorded  an  instance  of  Bombus 
agrorum  taking  possession  of  a  wren's  nest  that 
was  occupied  by  a  clutch  of  the  bird's  eggs.  Possibly 
the  bee  thought  they  were  cocoons ;  anyway, 
she  heaped  up  her  collected  pollen  among  them, 
and  so  disgusted  the  wren  by  her  action  that  she 
abandoned  her  eggs,  and  it  is  probable  built  a  new 
nest  elsewhere.  Mr.  Sladen  mentions  a  double 
case  of  adaptation.  A  mouse  had  utilized  a  cast- 
off  shoe  as  a  nesting-place,  and  after  the  mouse  had 
done  with  it  B.  agrorum  adapted  the  mouse-nest 


158   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

to  her  use.  Such  a  course  of  procedure  saves  the 
colony- founding  female  the  labour  of  collecting 
all  the  material  required,  and  enables  her  to  devote 
her  energies  at  once  to  the  laying  of  eggs  and 
gathering  food. 


VII 
PAPER-MAKERS 


159 


VII 
PAPER-MAKERS 

THE  ancient  Egyptians  are  generally  given  the 
credit  for  the  invention  of  paper  from  slices  of  the 
stem  of  papyrus  reed,  but  probably  the  Chinese 
would  claim  that  they  made  it  from  another  plant. 
Neither  race  has  the  slightest  claim  to  be  con- 
sidered as  the  inventors  of  paper,  for  the  wasps 
were  probably  busy  manufacturing  paper  long 
before  the  first  man  put  in  an  appearance  on  the 
face  of  the  earth. 

Not  so  long  ago  nearly  all  paper  turned  out  by 
our  paper-mills  was  made  of  rags ;  but  the  demands 
for  paper  have  long  outgrown  the  supply  of  rags, 
and  we  have  now  to  cut  down  the  primeval  forests, 
reduce  the  wood  to  pulp,  and  use  the  crushed 
fibres  to  make  most  of  our  paper.  In  this  "  up-to- 
date  "  development  of  an  important  industry  we 
are  merely  going  back  to  the  primitive  craft  of  the 
wasps.  Of  course,  we  have  improved  upon  their 
methods,  bringing  in  wonderful  and  expensive  ma- 
chinery for  pulping  the  wood  and  converting  it  into 
smooth  sheets  of  varying  thickness.  The  wasp  does 
the  whole  business  with  her  mandibles  and  tongue, 

II  161 


162   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

It  will  be  objected,  of  course,  that  the  wasp's 
paper  is  of  a  very  inferior  quality  and  not  durable  ; 
but  the  wasp  makes  the  sort  of  paper  that  she 
requires,  just  as  we  do.  We  require  fine  writing- 
paper,  printing-paper,  packing-papers  of  various 
degrees  of  coarseness,  blotting-paper,  etc.,  and  we 
make  what  we  require.  If  the  wasp  is  going  to  use 
her  paper  where  it  will  have  protection  from  the 
elements  she  makes  it  friable.  If  it  is  to  stand  rain 
and  wind  she  makes  it  stronger. 

The  wasps'  nests  we  are  acquainted  with  in  this 
country  are  intended  to  last  a  few  months  only  : 
it  would  be  unfair  to  accuse  her  of  making  tem- 
porary material  where  she  does  not  require  per- 
manence. Besides,  where  occasion  requires  it  the 
wasp  can  make  tolerably  permanent  structures  of 
fine  card  or  papier  mdche  that  is  waterproof  and 
upon  which  a  man  can  write  with  a  pen.  What 
more  can  be  expected  of  the  wasp  as  a  paper-maker 
than  this  ?  If  she  makes  materials  that  suffice 
for  her  needs,  she  does  as  much  as  man  does  for 
himself.  The  only  difference  is  that  man  is  never 
satisfied,  but  ever  wanting  something  more  than 
his  actual  necessity  demands. 

Like  the  Honey  Bee  the  Social  Wasps  (Ves^a) 
are  mathematicians.  They  build  their  combs  with 
a  strict  eye  to  economy  of  material,  and  they  have 
adopted  the  hexagon  as  best  serving  this  end.  But 
the  wasp  combs  are  all  single.  They  have  not 
learned  that  there  is  additional  economy  in  building 
them  back  to  back.  Their  combs  are  also  built 


PAPER-MAKERS  163 

horizontally  with  the  cells  opening  downwards. 
Like  the  bee,  they  begin  their  building  at  the  top 
of  their  nest  and  work  downward,  but  there  is 
this  difference,  that  the  bee-comb  is  attached  by 
its  double  thickness  and  each  one  has  its  own 
support;  the  single  flimsy  combs  of  the  wasp  are 
suspended  by  paper  pillars,  the  first  layer  to  a 
branch  or  underground  root,  and  each  succeeding 
comb  to  the  one  previously  constructed ;  so  that 
the  entire  series  of  combs  has  to  depend  upon 
the  original  pillar. 

In  a  previous  chapter  we  have  referred  to  the 
idea,  still  entertained  by  a  few,  that  the  hexagonal 
form  of  the  bee  cells  is  due  to  mutual  pressure. 
In  the  analogous  case  of  the  wasp,  where  the  same 
shape  is  adopted,  observation  of  the  building-up 
of  the  comb  convinced  us  many  years  ago  that  the 
hexagon  is  built  as  such,  and  not  produced  by  pres- 
sure. There  is  this  difference,  however,  between 
the  cell  of  bee  and  wasp — the  latter  has  a  base 
slightly  convex  on  the  exterior,  and  the  interior 
forming  a  broad  inverted  cone.  This  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  there  is  no  economy  possible  in  adopt- 
ing the  three  rhombs  of  the  bee  cell.  The  upper 
side  of  the  comb  is  flat  as  a  whole,  but  the  slight 
convexity  of  each  cell  is  patent  to  the  eye,  and  it 
is  equally  evident  that  the  hexagonal  form  is  adopted 
from  the  beginning. 

Whence  comes  the  material  of  the  comb  ?  The 
wasp  cannot  produce  paper  pulp  from  the  plates 
of  her  abdomen  as  the  bee  produces  wax.  It  is 


1 64   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

frequently  asserted  that  she  resorts  to  rotten  posts 
and  stumps  for  her  material ;  but  though  this  may- 
be true  of  the  hornet,  it  is  not  true  of  the  \Aasp. 
She  uses  perfectly  sound  wood,  though  she  un- 
doubtedly prefers  wood  that  has  been  "  seasoned  " 
by  exposure  in  a  cut  state  to  growing  timber.  We 
have  a  garden  fence  that  is  a  favourite  quarry  for 
the  raw  material  of  wasps'  nests.  In  the  busy 
season  you  may  see  scores  of  worker  wasps  upon 
it  shaving  off  delicate  films  of  its  surface,  reducing 
it  to  pulp,  and  flying  off  to  their  nest  with  a  pellet 
of  it.  The  greater  portion  of  the  fence  is  of  oak, 
but  a  smaller  length  is  of  pine ;  and  they  take 
from  both.  The  pine  must  be  the  easier  to  work, 
and  one  would  expect  them  to  restrict  their  atten- 
tions to  it ;  but  they  do  not.  It  is  probable  that 
they  may  have  different  uses  for  the  two  sorts 
of  material.  The  photograph  of  a  few  inches  of 
the  pine  fence  will  make  clear  the  extent  of 'surf  ace 
shaved  at  each  operation.  The  average  width  of  a 
shaved  space  is  two  millimetres,  and  its  length 
about  ten  millimetres,  some  longer,  some  shorter. 

Arrived  at  the  nest,  the  worker  flies  to  that  part 
where  material  may  be  most  in  request  at  the 
moment,  and  chewing  up  her  pellet  afresh,  she 
mixes  it  with  a  gummy  secretion  from  the  glands 
of  her  mouth,  and  then  proceeds  to  spread  it  out 
thinly  as  an  addition  to  the  edge  of  work  in  progress, 
whether  it  be  a  new  layer  of  the  outer  walls  or  the 
lengthening  of  brood  cells  to  make  them  agree 
with  the  increasing  length  of  growing  grubs. 


PLATE  22         THE  RAW  MATERIAL  OF  WASP-PAPER.  Page  164 

The  wasp  was  the  inventor  of  wood-pulp  paper.     The  photo  shows  a  portion  of  a 

fence  whose  face  has  been  regularly  shaved  by  wasps  to  yield  them  the  material 

for  constructing  their  nests  and  combs. 

Photo  by  Author. 


COMB  OF  WASP. 


Page  i 68 


PLATE  23 

The  material  taken  from  the  fence  shown  in  the  previous  plate  has  here  been  worked 
up  into  a  coarse  paper  which  has  been  used  in  the  construction  of  thousands  of  six- 
sided  cells. 

Photo  by  Author. 


PAPER-MAKERS  165 

Although  the  cells  when  once  advanced  to  their 
full  size  demand  no  paper- making,  and  serve  for 
the  accommodation  of  successive  batches  of  grubs, 
there  are  always  new  combs  to  be  built  and  the 
circumference  of  old  combs  to  be  increased  by 
adding  new  cells  to  their  edges.  In  addition,  with 
this  growth  in  the  size  of  the  combs,  and  the  pro- 
vision of  new  ones  below  the  old,  the  area  of  the 
nest  has  to  be  increased,  and  this  requires  more 
and  more  paper ;  so  that  until  quite  late  in  the 
season  our  fence  is  in  constant  request.  There  are 
some  people  so  biased  against  the  wasp  that,  if 
they  were  only  sufficiently  observant  to  see  this 
continual  shaving  of  their  fences,  they  would  make 
this  a  fresh  count  in  the  indictment  against  her. 

At  first  the  wasp  nest  is  a  very  poor  affair.  The 
so-called  "  queen "  or  mother  wasp,  that  has 
passed  the  winter  in  a  torpid  state  where  she  has 
been  protected  from  frost,  begins  afresh  in  the 
early  days  of  spring.  She  only  emerged  from  her 
pupa-cell  at  the  fag  end  of  last  season,  and  after 
her  marriage  flight  went  into  retirement.  So  she 
has  had  no  opportunity  for  acquiring  experience 
by  watching  the  procedure  of  her  mother  or  her 
older  sisters.  Her  mother  had  probably  died  of 
old  age  and  egg- bearing  before  the  daughter  threw 
off  her  pupa-skin. 

However,  she  knows  that  it  devolves  upon  her  to 
make  provision  for  her  coming  offspring,  and  her 
first  concern  is  to  find  a  reliable  source  for  her  raw 
material.  That  having  been  discovered  and  its 


1 66  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

position  committed  to  memory,  her  next  task  is  to 
find  a  suitable  building  site.  Her  choice  will  depend 
upon  whether  she  is  a  Tree  Wasp  or  a  Ground 
Wasp.  We  have  eight  British  species  of  wasp.  Of 
these  the  largest  is  the  Hornet  (Fes fa  crabro), 
which  builds  in  hollow  trees  and  under  thatched 
roofs ;  another,  the  Austrian  Wasp  (Fesfa  austriaca) 
is  a  lodger  in  the  nests  of  other  wasps.  Of  the 
other  six,  three  (V '.  arbor ea,  V .  sylvestris,  and 
V.  norvegica)  build  in  trees  and  bushes,  and  the 
remaining  three  (F '.  vulgaris,  V .  germanica,  and 
V .  rufa)  make  their  nests  underground,  often  in 
the  nests  or  runs  of  mice  or  moles. 

Supposing  she  was  one  of  the  Tree  Wasps,  she 
would  probably  select  a  branch  of  a  holly-tree,  a 
larch,  or  a  gooseberry-bush.     After  careful  examina- 
tion of  several  branches,  as  though  she  were  con- 
sidering their  strength,  their  sunny  aspect,  shelter 
from  gales,  and  so  forth,  she  flies  to  the  fence  pre- 
viously discovered  and  scrapes  off  a  ball  of  woody 
fibres,  with  which  she  returns  to  the  tree.     Masti- 
cating her  material  and  thoroughly  incorporating 
with  it  the  fluid  cement  from  her  mouth,  she  ne.xt 
spreads    it    out    around    the   branch.     Making   re- 
peated journeys  to  her  timber  stock,  she  soon  has 
a  short  bar  of  papier  mdche  hanging  straight  down 
from  the  branch.     To  the  free  end  of  this  additional 
paper  is  attached,  which  takes  the  form  of  three 
saucer-like    shallow    cells.     As    soon    as    these    are 
ready,  she  lays  an  egg  in  each,  gluing  it  to  the  sides, 
for  the  cells,  be  it  remembered,  are  inverted,  and 


PAPER-MAKERS  167 

but  for  this  precaution  the  eggs  would  fall  out. 
These  soon  hatch,  but  the  minute  grub  does  not 
cast  off  the  whole  of  the  egg-shell :  it  keeps  the 
binder  portion  of  its  body  in  the  base  of  the  egg- 
shell until  its  final  cast  of  skin,  and  by  this  means 
retains  its  hold  of  the  cell. 

Until  the  eggs  hatch  the  mother  wasp  is  free  to 
extend   her   home.     She   builds   a   paper   umbrella 
over  her  three-celled  comb  ;    she  adds  other  cells 
to  the  first  three  ;   she  encloses  the  comb  in  a  pear- 
shaped  bag  with  an  entrance  at  the  narrow  lower 
end.     When   the   eggs   are   hatched   two   or   three 
days  later  she  has  to  provide  the  grubs  with  food 
continuously,  and  she  does  this  by  capturing  flies 
and  other  insects,   masticating  the  soft  parts  and 
feeding  the  grubs  from  mouth  to  mouth,  much  as 
a  bird  feeds  her  callow  nestlings.     With  such  care 
and    attention    the    grubs    grow    rapidly,    and    in 
between    her    food-finding    excursions    she    has    to 
find   time   to   visit   the   fence,   to  get   more  wood 
raspings  with  which  to  increase  the  depth  of  the 
cells.     If  you  look  at   a   piece  of  wasp-comb   you 
can  trace  the  growth  of  the  cell-wall  by  the  lines 
of  slightly  varying  colour. 

When  the  grub  has  reached  its  full  dimensions 
it  spins  a  silken  cap  over  the  mouth  of  the  cell, 
and  continues  the  silken  layer  down  to  the  bottom 
of  its  cell.  This  is  its  cocoon.  The  upper  part 
is  of  the  same  close  texture  as  the  cap,  but  lower 
down  it  becomes  much  thinner.  In  this  cocoon 
the  grub  changes  to  a  chrysalis,  and  after  a  rest  of 


i68   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

a  few  days  emerges  as  a  worker  wasp  and  eats 
through  the  cap  of  its  cell.  All  the  earlier  cells 
produce  workers,  and  these,  as  soon  as  their  yellow- 
and-black  armour  has  set  firm,  begin  to  help  the 
mother  wasp.  They  gather  wood-fibres,  and  build 
new  combs  ;  cut  away  the  old  walls  to  accommodate 
an  increased  diameter  of  the  combs,  but  first  build 
newer  walls  farther  out. 

The  mother  wasp  can  now  devote  her  energies 
to  laying  eggs  in  the  new  cells,  the  workers  per- 
forming her  other  functions  as  nurse  and  builder. 
For  a  long  time  the  combs  produce  nothing  but 
workers,  so  that  when  two  or  three  batches  of 
these  have  emerged,  the  work  of  extension  goes 
on  with  rapidity.  The  old  cells  are  cleaned  out 
and  made  available  for  a  fresh  batch  of  eggs  in 
addition  to  those  laid  in  the  new  combs.  Later 
in  the  season  cells  of  rather  larger  size  are  con- 
structed, and  from  the  grubs  reared  in  these  larger 
wasps  emerge.  These  are  males  and  females. 

It  is  not  generally  understood  by  those  who 
have  not  made  a  study  of  insect  life  that  there  is  no 
possibility  of  being  stung  by  a  male  wasp,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  he  is  not  endowed  with  a  sting. 
But,  of  course,  those  which  usually  cause  alarm  by 
their  presence  have  the  power  of  stinging,  they 
being  nearly  always  workers,  the  males,  as  stated, 
being  produced  only  late  in  the  season  and  dying 
soon  after  mating.  The  armed  workers,  however, 
should  not  be  feared,  for  they  have  scarcely  ever 
been  known  to  sting  unless  they  are  molested.  A 


PAPER-MAKERS  169 

worker  may  alight  on  your  hand  and  walk  leisurely 
over  it,  but  will  not  sting  unless  some  nervous 
movement  be  made  which  alarms  the  wasp. 

We  know  that  every  man's  hand  is  against  the 
wasp,  and  we  imagine,  therefore,  that  the  wasp  is 
against  every  human  being.  The  truth  is  that 
the  wasp  is,  from  the  human  viewpoint,  one  of  the 
most  useful  and  harmless  of  insects — spoiled  plums 
notwithstanding.  The  one  great  defect  of  the 
wasp  is  that  it  does  not  store  up  honey  or  wax  that 
could  be  raided  by  man  and  turned  to  a  profit 
expressed  in  £  s.  d.  The  unceasing  good  the  wasp 
does  to  man  all  the  summer  by  destroying  millions 
of  his  insect  foes  does  not  count.  The  eyes  of  the 
husbandman  are  blinded  by  ancient  prejudice, 
and  he  cannot  distinguish  between  friends  and 
foes.  We  think  it  is  extremely  probable  that  if  a 
hive  of  honey  bees  and  a  nest  of  wasps  could  be 
put  in  the  opposite  scales  in  which  human  interests 
are  weighed,  it  would  be  found  that  they  were 
pretty  level. 

We  have  said  little  about  the  paper  walls  of  the 
wasp's  nest,  but  it  is  important  that  they  should 
described.  Wasps,  like  bees  and  many  other 
lighly  organized  insects,  are  very  susceptible  to 
:old,  and  for  the  proper  development  of  their 

oung  it  is  necessary  that  their  nests  should  be 
tept  at  a  moderately  high  temperature.  The 
presence  of  thousands  of  workers  in  a  large  nest 

ecures  this,  and  movement  of  the  air  and  ventilation 
are  effected  by  the  vibration  of  innumerable  wings. 


1 70   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

The  warm  air  is  kept  in  by  the  paper  walls,  and 
radiation  on  cold  nights  is  guarded  against  by  the 
method  of  construction.  The  principle  of  the 
down  quilt  and  the  woollen  blanket  had  been 
discovered  by  the  wasp  long  before  man  adopted 
these  substitutes  for  the  furry  coats  of  the  animals 
he  used  to  hunt. 

If  you  cut  through  the  walls  of  a  large  wasp's 
nest  you  will  find  there  are  several  layers  of  paper 
with  air  spaces  between  them.  Imprisoned  air 
between  layers  of  non-conducting  material  is  one 
of  the  most  efficient  means  of  maintaining  an  equal 
temperature ;  and  the  building  of  the  vespiary 
walls  is  evidently  carried  out  with  this  principle 
in  view. 

In  the  early  days  of  a  Tree  Wasp's  nest,  the  um- 
brella that  is  built  as  a  shelter  for  the  first  three 
or  four  cells    is   soon  continued    downwards   as   a 
pear-shaped  bottle  with   a   mouth   at   the   narrow 
end.     When  a  few  workers  are  available  they  cover 
this  with  additional  wrappings,  always  with  a  space 
between  every  two  layers;    and  right  through  the 
season  they  are  always  adding  more  and  more  to 
the  exterior.     If  one  could  judge  only  by  what  is 
seen  from  outside,  he  would  imagine  that  the  walls 
had  become   excessively   thick ;    but   all  the   time 
that  additions  are  being  made  to  the  exterior  the 
inner   layers    are    being    successively   cut    away    to 
allow    of    additions    to    the    circumference    of    the 
combs.     In  this  way  the  nest  is  being  constantly 
enlarged  without  at  any  time  exposing  the  interior. 


PAPER-MAKERS  171 

There  is  considerable  difference  in  the  paper 
made  by  the  various  species  of  wasps.  That  of 
the  Tree  Wasps  is  smoother  and  much  more  regular 
in  its  surface  than  that  of  the  underground  species, 
which  is  made  in  semicircular  lines  which  give  it 
ruggedness  and  inequality.  One  would  almost 
expect  that  an  underground  nest,  being  protected 
all  around  by  earthen  walls,  would  not  be  furnished 
by  paper  walls  in  addition.  But  they  are  apparently 
necessary  to  equalize  temperature  as  well  as  to 
keep  off  emanations  of  damp  from  the  soil  and  the 
percolation  of  rain  through  the  roof  of  the  cavern. 

A  good  idea  of  the  industry  and  the  numbers 
of  a  colony  of  wasps  can  be  gained  by  sitting  down 
near  the  entrance  to  one  of  these  subterranean 
nests  and  noting  the  exits  and  entrances  of  the 
workers.  There  is  always  sufficient  room  in  these 
passages  to  allow  wasps  going  in  opposite  directions 
to  pass  each  other  without  any  danger  of  jostling. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peckham,  in  giving  the  results  of 
some  observations  they  conducted  in  this  way, 
say  : 

"  Experiments  that  would  have  been  dangerous 
to  life  and  limb  had  we  tried  them  with  a  paper 
nest  hanging  in  the  open,  were  easy  here,  so  long 
as  we  kept  calm  and  unflurried.  Intent  upon  their 
own  affairs,  and  unsuspicious  of  evil,  perhaps 
because  they  knew  themselves  to  be  armed  against 
aggression,  they  accepted  our  presence,  at  first 
with  indifference  ;  but  as  we  sat  there  day  after 
day  we  must  have  become  landmarks  to  them,  and 


172   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

perhaps    before    the    summer   was    over   they   con- 
sidered us  really  a  part  of  home." 

This  seems  to  imply  that  the  Tree  Wasps  would 
not  have  regarded  their  espionage  so  complacently  ; 
but,  whatever  may  be  the  case  with  American 
wasps,  we  can  testify  that  our  Yes-pa  norvegica  is 
quite  as  tolerant  or  indifferent  as  a  Ground  Wasp. 
All  one  summer  we  had  such  a  nest  in  our  garden 
and  saw  it  grow  from  a  diameter  of  two  and  a  half 
inches  to  one  of  over  six  inches.  We  were  not 
able  to  station  ourselves  by  it  for  a  day,  but  at 
odd  times  as  occasion  offered  we  would  stand  for 
an  hour  at  a  time  with  our  face  only  a  few  inches 
from  its  doorway,  and  although  we  were  in  the 
line  of  approach  for  many  wasps,  we  were  never 
molested.  Our  attendance  was  intermittent  and 
spasmodic,  so  the  wasps  could  not  regard  us  as 
part  of  the  natural  surroundings  of  their  home  ; 
but  we  were  always  "  calm  and  unflurried,"  and 
were  probably  regarded  as  something  harmless 
about  which  they  need  not  worry. 

But  to  return  to  the  Peckhams'  observation : 
"  The  entrance  to  the  Vespa  nest  was  but  an  inch 
across ;  and  once  when  they  were  going  in  and 
out  in  a  hurrying  throng,  jostling  each  other  in 
their  eagerness,  we  counted  the  number  that  passed, 
one  taking  the  entrances  and  one  the  exits.  In 
ten  minutes  five  hundred  and  ninety-two  left  the 
nest,  and  two  hundred  and  forty-seven  went  in, 
so  that  we  saw  eight  hundred  and  thirty- nine  or 
about  eighty  to  the  minute." 


PAPER-MAKERS  173 

The  wasp  is  no  exponent  of  the  eight-hours 
movement.  As  soon  as  the  sun  has  had  time  to 
take  "  the  raw  edge  "  off  the  air  the  wasp  is  out 
on  her  everlasting  search  for  provisions  or  building 
material ;  and  she  works  on  until  long  after  sunset. 
To  enable  them  to  arrive  at  an  estimate  of  a  wasp's 
daily  labours,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peckham  kept  watch 
on  the  entrance  of  a  ground  nest  from  half-past 
four  in  the  morning  until  noon,  counting  the  wasps 
that  went  out  and  those  that  came  home.  In 
that  time  4,534  left  the  nest  and  3,362  returned. 
"  With  all  this  activity  there  seemed  to  be  no 
pleasure  excursions,  for  each  one  carried  food 
when  returning,  and  took  out  a  pellet  of  earth 
when  leaving."  They  calculated  that  each  wasp 
was  gone  about  forty-three  minutes. 

The  British  species  of  wasps  already  enumerated 
are,  as  regards  six  of  them,  so  similar  in  their 
natural  history  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  treat  them 
in  detail.  A  seventh,  being  an  interloper  into  the 
nests  of  others,  by  whom  its  brood  is  reared,  does 
not  fall  under  the  category  of  artizan,  unless  we 
are  to  regard  burglary  as  a  handicraft. 

But  the  eighth  species — the  terrifying  Hornet 
(y es'pa  crabro))  is  entitled  to  a  few  words  of  separate 
treatment.  In  all  essentials  its  nest  is  internally 
like  that  of  the  smaller  wasps,  but  it  is  usually 
built  in  the  hollow  of  a  decayed  tree,  often  in  a 
corner  of  a  disused  outhouse,  sometimes  in  a  roof 
beneath  the  thatch.  It  is  said  to  use  rotten  wood 
as  the  raw  material  for  its  paper-making ;  but 


174  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

though  we  are  not  in  a  position  to  assert  otherwise, 
we  think  the  statement  is  open  to  question.  The 
smaller  species  of  Ves^a  select  fibrous  material, 
and  it  is  scarcely  probable  that  the  larger  insect 
would  prefer  a  more  fragile  substance  for  her 
larger  works.  It  has  also  been  stated  that  the 
darker  colour  of  her  paper  is  due  to  its  being  made 
from  bark  shavings. 

She  does  not  leave  off  work  when  night  comes 
on,  for  she  may  be  seen  on  moonlight  nights, 
seeking  her  prey.  At  times  she  is  found  by  moth- 
hunters  industriously  lapping  up  the  sweet  mixture 
known  as  "  sugar  "  which  they  have  painted  in 
broad  streaks  on  tree-trunks  for  the  allurement 
of  night-flying  moths.  Often  when  her  tree- 
hollow  is  of  a  sufficiently  enclosed  character,  the 
Hornet  will  omit  the  paper  walls  of  her  nest,  and 
thereby  save  much  labour  which  can  be  devoted 
instead  to  the  building  of  combs  and  the  care  of 
her  grubs. 

The  genus  Polistts,  of  which  P.  gallica  is  a  well- 
known  Continental  species,  builds  combs  suspended 
from  branches  and  attached  to  rocks,  but  without 
any  paper  nest  surrounding  them.  In  some  books 
where  this  comb  has  been  figured  it  is  shown  as  a 
horizontal  structure,  with  the  cells  opening  up- 
wards. The  natural  position  for  the  comb  is 
vertical,  and  of  the  cells  horizontal  with  their 
openings  outwards,  an  arrangement  that  is  also 
found  in  the  combs  of  the  Honey  Bee. 

Ischnogaster    melleyi,     a    long-waisted    Javanese 


PAPER-MAKERS  175 

wasp,  builds  its  combs  in  a  similar  unprotected 
fashion  ;  as  also  does  the  South  American  Apoica 
pallida,  but  in  this  case  the  convex  upper  surface 
(or  back)  of  th*  comb  is  covered  with  a  continuous 
sheet  of  firm  paper  which  is  dense  enough  to  cast 
off  tropical  rain.  Synceca  cyanea  attaches  its  combs 
to  the  branch  of  a  tree,  moulding  them  to  its 
curves  and  angles  for  a  distance  of  two  or  three 
feet,  and  building  an  outer  envelope  of  paper  to 
protect  them. 

All  these  nests,  like  those  of  our  native  species, 
are  built  for  one  season  only ;  but  there  are  wasps' 
nests  built  for  continuous  communities  like  those 
of  the  Social  Bees.  These  are  found  in  South 
America,  and  in  consequence  of  their  being  in- 
tended to  last  for  more  than  one  season  they  are 
built  of  much  more  durable  material — though  it 
is  produced  in  the  same  way  as  the  ordinary  fragile 
paper.  "  Paper  "  is  not  the  word  for  this  material. 
It  is  thick,  tough,  solid,  with  a  smooth  finished 
surface,  and  the  term  papier  mdche  is  much  more 
suitable  for  it. 

A  tolerably  well-known  example  of  this  type  is 
the  nest  of  Cbartergus  chartarius.  As  it  hangs 
from  a  branch  it  is  bell-shaped,  with  the  mouth 
closed  save  for  a  small  opening  in  the  centre  large 
enough  to  admit  the  builders.  Some  of  these 
nests  are  a  foot  and  a  half  high,  and  contain  ten 
or  more  tiers  of  comb,  which  are  concave  on 
the  upper  or  blank  side  and  convex  on  the  cell 
side.  These  combs,  instead  of  being  suspended 


176  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

one  from  another,  are  attached  by  their  edges  to 
the  walls,  and  access  from  comb  to  comb  is  provided 
by  a  central  opening.  This  arrangement,  it  will  be 
seen,  provides  a  box-like  structure,  very  strong 
and  enduring,  even  when  exposed  to  tropical 
storms. 

Somewhat  similar  are  the  nests  of  the  genus 
Polybia,  which  are  of  various  shapes  according  to 
the  species  that  build  them,  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable being  that  of  Polybia  scutellaris,  a  native 
of  Brazil  and  Uruguay.  It  is  about  a  couple  of 
feet  deep  and  three  feet  in  circumference,  its 
envelope  of  thick  card  like  that  of  Cbartergus,  but 
instead  of  being  smooth  the  surface  is  beset  with 
stout  spikes  of  the  same  material,  which  have  been 
supposed  to  be  a  defence  against  the  attacks  of 
mammals  that  have  a  sweet  tooth — for,  strange  to 
say,  this  wasp  stores  honey  in  some  of  its  combs. 

We  say  "  strange,"  but  it  is  strange  only  in 
contrast  to  the  habits  of  most  of  the  wasps  we 
know.  Even  the  insect-feeding  wasps  are  fond  of 
sweets,  but  they  do  not  store  honey  because  they 
do  not  require  it  for  winter  consumption.  If  one 
considers  why  bees  store  honey,  it  appears  quite 
natural  that  a  community  of  wasps  that  continues 
unbroken  for  years  should  do  the  same.  This 
point  of  view,  however,  never  occurred  to  the 
naturalists  of  a  hundred  years  ago,  when  the 
existence  of  honey-storing  wasps  was  first  brought 
to  their  notice.  They  rejected  it  as  a  traveller's 
tale. 


PAPER-MAKERS  177 

The  first  intimation  of  the  existence  of  honey 
wasps  was  made  by  the  Spaniard,  Don  Azara,  who 
had  spent  thirteen  years  in  the  work  of  a  boundary- 
delimitation  commission  in  Paraguay  at  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  His  published  account 
of  his  travels  was  much  criticized  because  of  this 
statement,  and  whilst  some  regarded  it  as  a  pure 
concoction  of  the  Munchausen  class,  others  thought 
the  insects  he  considered  wasps  were  really  bees. 
When  about  forty  years  later  specimens  of  the 
nests  reached  this  country,  and  were  examined, 
Dr.  Adam  White,  of  the  British  Museum,  found 
dry  honey  in  the  combs,  and  the  reputation  of 
De  Azara  was  rehabilitated.  Since  then  other 
species  of  Polybia  have  been  discovered  to  have 
the  same  habit. 

Wasps,  however,  are  not  the  only  paper-makers 
among  these  Insect  Artizans.  A  few  ants  practise 
the  art,  among  them  species  of  Polyracbis  in  the 
tropics  of  the  Old  World;  also  Dolichoderus. 
Some  of  the  former  construct  little  nests  on  the 
surface  of  leaves.  These  are  paper-like  in  structure, 
consisting  of  a  single  cavity  lined  with  silk,  and 
serving  for  the  accommodation  of  a  single  female 
and  eight  or  ten  workers.  For  the  purpose  of 
making  these  structures  inconspicuous,  some  species 
cover  their  nests  with  fragments  of  vegetable 
matter,  or  hide  them  between  two  leaves. 

Our  Carpenter  Ant  (Lasius  fuliginosus)  is  a 
cardboard-maker  on  occasion.  If  in  its  excavations 
a  worker  has  been  unmindful  of  the  needs  of  the 

12 


178   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

nursery  or  other  department,  and  has  made  halls 
or  corridors  too  wide  or  lofty  for  comfort,  others 
will  set  to  work  erecting  partitions  by  elaborating 
from  wood  debris  and  saliva  a  rough  cardboard 
that  serves  the  purpose  and  harmonizes  with  its 
surroundings. 


VIII 
TAILORS 


179 


VIII 
TAILORS 

WE  have  done  with  the  communal  builders,  and 
with  those  that  construct  dwellings  for  their  pro- 
geny whether  by  mining,  masonry,  carpentry,  or 
otherwise.  Our  present  business  is  with  the  in- 
dividual who,  not  satisfied  with  the  provision  made 
by  nature,  makes  an  additional  covering  that  he 
may  avoid  being  seen  by  creatures  that  would 
attack  and  eat  him.  With  many  species  there  is 
inherited  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  the  way 
through  life  is  beset  by  dangers,  that  enemies  are 
looking  for  their  victims  on  all  sides,  and  that  the 
sooner  the  intended  victim  can  make  himself  to 
look  like  something  unpalatable  the  better  for  his 
chance  of  fulfilling  the  destiny  of  his  kind.  So,  as 
soon  as  they  have  quitted  the  egg-shell,  we  find 
certain  insects  making  arrangements  for  a  disguise; 
though  in  some  cases  not  so  much  for  protection 
against  more  powerful  foes,  as  to  enable  them  to 
fall  upon  a  victim  without  creating  suspicion. 

The  venerable  Archdeacon  Paley,  whose  book  on 
Natural  Theology  was  once  popular  reading, 
averred  that  man  is  "  the  only  animal  which  can 

1*1 


1 82   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

clothe  itself."  How  little  ground  he  had  for  that 
assertion  will  be  seen  in  what  follows. 

These  insect  tailors  differ  from  human  tailors  in 
the  fact  that  they  are  only  concerned  in  clothing 
themselves.  They  may  be  considered  in  two 
distinct  groups  :  (a)  those  that  obtain  their  ma- 
terials from  their  food-plants  or  bits  of  the  im- 
mediate surroundings  of  their  feeding-ground,  and 
(b)  those  that  rely  upon  their  own  secretions  or 
excretions. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  Spinners  and  Weavers,  it  is 
among  the  caterpillars  of  the  moths  that  we  find 
the  most  numerous  examples  of  the  first  group, 
their  succulence  making  them  desirable  prey  to 
all  kinds  of  insectivorous  creatures,  and  their 
feeding- grounds,  being  the  foliage  of  plants,  expose 
them  to  the  attack  of  their  enemies.  In  conse- 
quence many  caterpillars  adopt  the  elementary 
precaution  of  lightly  spinning  together  two  leaves 
of  their  food-plant,  so  as  to  enable  them  to  feed 
in  secret.  An  advance  upon  this  plan  has  been 
adopted  by  species  having  a  better  knowledge  of 
mechanics.  These  roll  up  the  leaf  from  one  edge 
into  a  cylinder  of  several  thicknesses  whose  shape 
is  retained  by  a  few  silken  threads,  and  in  this 
they  feed  upon  the  inner  coils. 

But  this  is  only  primitive  tailoring,  like  that  of 
the  human  savage  who  clothes  himself  by  wrapping 
his  body  in  the  untrimmed  and  unsewn  skin  of 
the  beast  he  has  slain  in  the  chase.  What  we 
understand  by  insect  tailoring  involves  the  use  of 


PLATE  24        STRANGE  PORTABLE  HOUSES. 


Caterpillars  of  the  Psyche-moths  construct  cases  for  their  protection  whilst  feeding. 
The  upper  examples,  which  have  passed  for  snail-shells,  are  constructed  wholly  of 
silk  ;  the  lower  is  of  silk  covered  with  vegetable  debris.  The  moth  is  a  male,  the 
female  being  wingless  and  never  leaving  the  case  in  which  she  fed  as  a  caterpillar. 


o  -53  ^  ^ 

3 


i  . 

"O     H 


rt   ^ 


•5  1 


II! 
l 


m   a  H 
N    & 


TAILORS  183 

the  shears,  the  making  of  neat  seams,  and  the 
finishing  off  and  fitting.  These  forms  of  disguise 
are  chiefly  found  among  the  moths  and  beetles, 
the  former  adapting  foreign  materials  to  their  use, 
and  the  latter  relying  chiefly  upon  their  own 
substance. 

Among  the  best  known  of  these  lepidopterous 
tailors — from  the  fact  that  figures  of  their  "  cases  " 
have  frequently  appeared  in  natural-history  books 
— are  the  caterpillars  of  the  genus  Psyche.  These, 
as  soon  as  they  quit  the  egg,  spin  a  silken  jacket, 
attaching  to  the  exterior  bits  of  the  food-plant 
which  they  have  bitten  off.  These  pieces  are 
attached  by  one  end  only  so  that  they  overlap. 
The  one  suit  of  clothes  serves  them  until  they 
become  moths — in  the  case  of  the  females  all  their 
lives.  As  the  caterpillar  increases  in  size  it  adds 
to  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  case,  which  serves 
also  as  a  cocoon  for  the  chrysalis.  The  males 
develop  wings  and  are  active  fliers,  but  the  female 
is  a  helpless,  wingless  and  legless,  worm-like  creature, 
and  has  to  remain  in  her  case  till  death.  Some 
of  the  allied  species  make  more  remarkable  cases, 
so  that  they  resemble  little  snails  of  the  genus 
ulausilia  ;  others  are  like  the  shells  of  Helix,  for 
which  they  have  been  sent  to  this  country  by 
collectors. 

Somewhat  similar  are  the  clothes  made  by 
various  species  of  small  moths  that  are  collectively 
known  as  Clothes  Moths.  There  are  at  least  three 
distinct  species,  with  different  habits,  that  are 


1 84   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

known  by  this  common  name  in  this  country. 
They  are  insects  that  have  scarcely  to  be  sought, 
for,  quitting  the  fields,  they  have  taken  to  a  life 
in  our  homes,  laying  waste  our  furniture  and 
clothing.  Some  of  them  get  beneath  the  covers 
of  chairs,  sofas,  etc.,  and  work  their  mischief  out 
of  sight. 

The  Clothes  Moth  properly  so-called  (Tinea 
pellionella)  works  to  some  extent  out  of  sight,  but 
that  is  because  it  is  a  tailor,  and  weaves  itself  a 
coat  partly  of  its  own  silk  and  partly  of  the  human 
garment  it  has  set  out  to  destroy.  Every  housewife 
knows  this  cleverly  made  cylinder  of  cloth  or  silk 
or  fur,  which  needs  sharp  eyes  for  its  detection 
so  closely  does  it  resemble  the  garment  on  which 
it  is  found,  but  we  fear  that  she  is  too  eager  to 
destroy  it  to  find  out  much  about  its  structure, 
and  scarcely  in  the  right  frame  of  mind  to  admire 
it.  If  she  were  sufficiently  calm  to  examine  it 
before  bringing  the  back  of  the  brush  down  upon 
it,  she  would  find  that  the  occupant  is  a  tiny- 
whitish  caterpillar  with  a  brown  head. 

Like  Psyche,  this  caterpillar,  as  soon  as  it  has 
left  the  egg,  spins  a  silk  case,  weaving  into  the 
exterior  snippets  of  hair  or  silk  or  wool  (it  will 
not  touch  cotton  or  linen),  and  adding  to  this  as 
its  own  growth  demands  more  room.  It  might  be 
supposed  that  with  a  well-stocked  wardrobe  at  its 
disposal  it  would  make  a  new  suit  of  clothes  as 
occasion  requires  ;  but  it  is  too  economical  to  do 
so.  The  question  of  increased  length  is  a  simple 


TAILORS  185 

matter  :  it  has  only  to  add  new  material  to  the  ends. 
But  when  the  case  gets  too  tight  there  arises 
what  might  appear  to  be  a  problem.  There  are 
no  seams  to  be  unpicked  and  "  let  out,"  but  a 
gusset  (we  believe  that  is  the  correct  term)  can  be 
inserted  which  has  the  desired  effect. 

When  things  have  arrived  at  that  pass  when  a 
pressure  is  felt  and  the  further  indulgence  in  food 
threatens    to    become    inconvenient,    the    case    is 
deliberately  cut  along  one  side  from  the  end  to  the 
middle,   and  in  the  gap  new  material  is  woven. 
Then  a  cut  is  made  from  the  other  end  also  to  the 
middle    and    new    material    inserted    there.     The 
process  is  repeated  along  the  other  side  of  the  case 
to  preserve  symmetry.     Result — a  sufficiently  roomy 
jacket  is  secured  without  depriving  the  owner  of 
its  protection  whilst  the  alteration  is  being  effected. 
The    method    of    using    this    case    without    the 
movements  of  the  caterpillar  being  impeded  is  as 
follows  :    the  insect  clings  to  the  silk  lining  by  the 
claspers  on  the  hind  body  only.     The  six  legs  just 
behind  the  head  are  always  kept  outside  the  mouth 
of  the  tube,  and  with  these  it  walks,  dragging  its 
case  with  its  body.     That  is  why  these  cases  fail  to 
fall  off  with  only  a  slight  brushing  of  the  garment 
attacked.     Sometimes,  however,  one  gets  brushed 
off  without  being  seen.     The  mistress  of  the  ward- 
robe  has   taken   away  the   blue  garment   to  wear 
and  has  knocked  off  a  Clothes  Moth  caterpillar  in 
its  blue  case.     It  climbs  up  the  article  nearest  to 
hand,  which  happens  to  be  red.     The  result  is  that 


1 86  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

when  it  has  occasion  to  enlarge  its  case  a  red  gusset 
is  let  into  the  blue  material,  and  the  contrast  of 
colour  renders  the  supposed  protective  covering 
rather  conspicuous.  Experimentally  in  close  con- 
finement the  little  tailor  has  been  made  to  weave 
a  coat  of  many  colours  by  placing  it  successively 
on  cloth  of  different  hues. 

Before  becoming  a  chrysalis,  the  caterpillar  either 
leaves  the  garment  upon  which  it  has  fed  and 
retires  into  an  obscure  corner,  or  it  remains  where 
it  is,  and  secures  itself  from  falling  or  being 
brushed  off  by  spinning  mooring  threads  between 
each  end  of  the  case  and  the  garment.  The  little 
moth  that  finally  results  from  this  caterpillar  has 
the  fore  wings  yellowish  brown  with  a  dark- brown 
spot  near  the  middle  of  each. 

Another  species  of  these  case-makers  allied  to 
the  Clothes  Moth  is  Tinea  vastella,  that  feeds  on 
the  horns  of  living  antelopes  in  Africa  and  India. 
It  makes  cylindrical  cases  of  a  felt-like  material 
composed  of  the  comminuted  fibres  of  horn;  and 
as  those  of  full  size  are  three  inches  long  with  a 
breadth  of  about  one-fifth  of  an  inch,  and  stand 
out  at  right  angles  from  the  horn,  they  present  a 
remarkable  appearance,  which  might  lead  a  hunter 
to  suppose  he  had  come  across  a  new  species  of 
antelope. 

Many  minute  moths  with  a  similar  taste  for 
tailoring  feed  upon  vegetable  matter — which  the 
Clothes  Moth  despises.  Good  examples  of  these 
may  be  found  in  the  large  genus  Coleopbora,  of 


TAILORS  187 

which  we  have  no  fewer  than  seventy-five  native 
species,  and  of  which  some  are  extremely  common, 
though  remaining  scarcely  known  except  to  the 
specialist.  The  garments  they  fabricate  are  all  so 
small  that  we  never  notice  them  until  the  plant 
they  are  on  is  subjected  to  a  very  close  inspection. 
One  of  the  commonest  forms  may  be  found  upon 
the  leaves  of  birch,  elm,  alder,  etc.  This  is  Coleophora 
fuscidinella,  of  whose  operations  Mr.  Alfred  Sich, 
who  has  made  a  special  study  of  this  group  of 
moths,  has  given  a  full  and  interesting  account, 
from  the  laying  of  the  egg  to  the  emergence  of 
the  moth.  He  says  : 

"  The  moth  lays  her  eggs  on  the  under  side  of 
the  leaves,  and  the  minute  caterpillar  after  hatching 
bores  a  hole  in  the  leaf  and  makes,  in  the  course  of 
a  few  days,  a  pear-shaped  mine.  Here  it  under- 
goes its  first  moult  or  change  of  skin,  and  when 
that  is  accomplished  it  sets  to  work  to  make  its 
first  case.  It  moves  round  the  mine  and  clears 
out  any  portion  of  the  parenchyma  which  would 
come  in  the  way  of  its  case.  It  now  cuts  a  slit 
in  both  the  upper  and  under  cuticles  of  the  leaf, 
from  the 'top  to  the  bottom,  on  one  side  of  the 
portion  it  intends  cutting  out,  and  fastens  these 
two  together  at  their  edges  with  silk.  It  then 
treats  the  opposite  side  in  the  same  manner,  taking 
care,  however,  to  leave  a  portion  at  the  apex,  and 
at  the  base  of  the  case,  still  attached  to  the  leaf. 

"When  the  sides  are  completed  the  larva  crawls 
up  tp  the  top  and  severs  the  two  cuticles  at  the 


1 88   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

apex  of  the  case  from  the  leaf,  but  does  not  fasten 
them  together,  as  it  requires  an  aperture  at  this 
end  of  the  case  as  well  as  at  the  basal  end.  After 
this  the  larva  crawls  down  to  the  base  of  the  case 
and  severs  it  completely  from  the  leaf  by  biting 
through  first  one  cuticle  and  then  the  other,  so 
that  before  the  second  cuticle  is  cut  through  the 
larva  is  able  to  grasp  the  leaf  firmly  with  its  legs 
and  prevent  itself  and  the  case  from  tumbling  down. 

"  The  case  now  being  complete,  the  larva  walks 
off  with  it  in  search  of  fresh  food.  Having  found  a 
suitable  leaf,  it  fastens  the  mouth  of  its  case  by 
silk  to  the  lower  cuticle  and  then  bites  out  a  round 
hole  in  the  cuticle  through  which  it  enters  the 
leaf  to  feed  on  the  parenchyma.  When  it  has 
eaten  out  as  much  as  it  can  conveniently  do  with- 
out quite  leaving  its  case,  it  usually  cuts  this  away 
and  carries  it  off  to  another  suitable  place,  where 
it  forms  a  fresh  mine. 

"  In  this  manner  it  continues  to  feed  and  also 
to  grow  longer  and  stouter,  so  that  its  case  gets  too 
small  and  has  to  be  made  larger.  At  this  period 
of  its  existence  this  species  lengthens  its  case  by 
adding  rings  of  leaf  cuticle  to  the  anterior  end 
of  its  case.  When  about  to  remove  to  another  leaf 
it  does  not  cut  away  the  actual  case,  but  it  cuts  out 
a  ring  of  cuticle  round  the  mouth  of  the  case, 
thus  freeing  the  case  with  the  ring  attached,  so 
that  this  ring  becomes  part  of  the  case.  .  .  .  The 
case,  however,  as  the  larva  grows  stouter,  must 
be  made  more  spacious,  so  the  larva  unpicks  the 


TAILORS  189 

lower  seams  of  the  case  which  it  previously,  with 
such  pains,  sewed  together,  and  lets  in  a  width  of 
silk.  When  the  case  again  needs  widening,  this 
width  of  silk  is  cut  down  the  centre  and  another 
width  added. 

"  By  these  additions  this  species  thus  continues 
the  size  of  its  case  till  the  autumn  sets  in.  The 
case  is  now  about  one-tenth  of  an  inch  long.  The 
larva  then  prepares  for  hibernation.  It  crawls  off 
the  leaf  and  fastens  its  case  very  firmly  to  a  twig 
of  its  food-plant,  as  if  it  knew  that,  did  it  remain 
on  the  leaves,  it  would  fall  to  the  ground  and 
might  be  blown  far  away.  The  site  usually  chosen 
is  the  space  found  in  the  angle  between  the  bark 
of  the  twig  and  the  next  year's  leaf-bud.  Wedged 
closely  down  in  this  situation,  the  minute  larva, 
secure  in  its  self-made  dwelling,  braves  the  autumnal 
gales  and  the  winter's  cold  without  any  further 
protection." 

When  in  spring  the  new  leaves  expand  the  larva 
loosens  its  hold,  and  travels  to  a  chosen  leaf  where 
it  begins  to  feed  again,  and  in  due  course  enlarges 
its  case.  In  the  spring  the  human  tailor  has  a 
rush  of  work  because  the  spring  sunshine  makes 
the  clothes  of  his  customers  appear  shabby  and 
they  call  for  a  new  suit.  Whether  similar  emo- 
tions stir  fuscidinella  to  action  has  not  at  present 
been  determined  by  investigators ;  but  Mr.  Sich 
tells  us  that — 

"  In  May,  when  the  larva  has  grown  considerably, 
something  impels  it  to  abandon  its  old  case  and 


190   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

make  an  entirely  new  dwelling.  It  fastens  its  old 
case  to  the  basal  portion  of  a  leaf  close  to  the  edge, 
and  then  mines  out  a  space  along  the  margin  of  the 
leaf,  nearly  twice  the  length  and  double  the  width 
of  its  body.  To  do  this  it  comes,  of  course,  quite 
outside  its  old  case,  and  when  the  space  is  quite 
completed  it  severs  the  large  new  case  from  the 
leaf  in  the  same  manner  as  it  did  when  making 
its  first  case,  -and  then  crawls  off  to  feed.  This 
new  case  is  rather  flimsy  and  translucent,  but  in  a 
day  or  two  the  larva  causes  it  to  become  very  tough 
and  quite  opaque. 

"  The  inside  of  all  the  Coleophorid  cases  I  have 
examined  is  lined  with  silk.  The  threads,  running 
in  all  directions,  are  plainly  visible  under  the 
microscope.  It  is  this  silk  lining  which,  by  pro- 
viding a  firm  foothold  for  the  larva,  enables  it 
almost  instantaneously  to  withdraw  its  body  into 
the  case  when  alarmed.  I  think  it  highly  probable 
that  the  interior  of  the  case  is  also  strengthened  by 
some  other  material  secreted  by  the  larva,  as  many 
cases  appear  to  be  formed  of  a  substance  resembling 
parchment  which  could  hardly  be  formed  by  leaf- 
cuticle  and  silk  threads  without  the  aid  of  some 
stiffening  material.  Dr.  Wood  suggests  that  this 
material  may  be  the  product  of  the  salivary  glands." 

The  new  case,  as  Sich  goes  on  to  tell  us,  is  straight, 
cylindrical,  and  has  about  thirty  times  the  capacity 
of  that  in  which  it  passed  the  winter.  It  feeds 
for  about  a  fortnight  longer  on  the  lower  side  of 
the  leaf,  then  removes  to  the  upper  side,  fastens  its 


TAILORS  191 

case  securely  and  changes  to  the  chrysalis  condition. 
One  cannot  see  what  goes  on  behind  these  opaque 
walls,  but  evidently  it  doubles  on  itself,  in  spite  of 
the  straitness  of  its  cell,  for  whereas  the  caterpillar 
was  head  downwards,  the  chrysalis  is  head  upwards. 
A  few  weeks  later  it  emerges  as  a  moth  from  the 
summit  of  its  little  tower. 

In  a  general  way  this  may  be  said  to  be  a  state- 
ment of  the  proceedings  of  all  the  numerous  species 
of  Coleopbora  ;  and  yet  when  one  comes  to  study 
them  as  Sich  has  done,  there  are  found  to  be 
innumerable  interesting  differences  of  detail  peculiar 
to  each  species.  Thus  Coleophora  discordella,  which 
feeds  upon  the  bird's- foot  trefoil  (Lotus  corniculatus), 
enlarges  its  case  by  adding  a  mined-out  leaflet  of 
the  plant,  and  as  at  each  successive  enlargement  it 
uses  a  leaflet  larger  than  the  last,  the  case  "  forms 
an  almost  perfect  miniature  cornucopia."  In  its  last 
stages  of  construction  the  caterpillar  does  not 
trouble  to  nip  off  the  two  side  leaflets  of  the  leaf, 
so  these  are  added  although  not  attached  to  the 
case. 

Some  of  them  live  upon  plants  whose  leaves  or 
leaflets  are  too  small  to  have  pieces  cut  out  of 
them  :  the  caterpillar  has  to  take  all  or  none,  and, 
of  course,  it  takes  all.  Thus  C.  saturatella  feeds 
on  broom  and  employs  a  whole  leaflet  when  enlarging 
its  case.  "  It  spins  its  case  to  the  leaflet,  just 
below  the  apex,  and  mines  out  sufficient  to  clear 
the  top  of  the  leaflet.  It  then  splits  the  leaflet 
right  down  the  centre,  wedges  its  case  in  between 


192   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

the  split  portions  and  fixes  it  there  with  silk.  After- 
wards it  mines  out  the  rest  of  the  leaflet  and  cuts 
it  off  at  the  base,  so  that  the  central  and  basal 
parts  of  the  leaf  form  the  tube  where  the  larva 
lives,  and  the  apex  on  one  side  and  the  split-off  part 
on  the  other  furnish  the  ornaments  of  the  case." 

Another  species,  C.  juncicolella,  that  feeds  on 
heather,  so  constructs  its  case  of  the  leaves  that  the 
finished  article  cannot  be  distinguished  from  the 
plant  upon  which  it  is  placed. 

Coleophora  siccifolia  was  known  to  a  past  genera- 
tion of  entomologists  as  the  Clumsy  Tailor,  "  on 
account  of  the  apparent  waste  of  materials  employed 
in  making  its  case ;  and  when  feeding  in  its  last 
case  it  certainly  appears  to  be  carrying  far  too 
much  sail."  But  there  is  method  in  its  madness. 
"  It  feeds  up  in  the  autumn,  and  attaches  its  case 
to  a  hawthorn  twig  to  pass  the  winter  and  early 
spring.  When  in  this  situation  it  looks  so  exactly 
like  a  withered  leaf  that  I  have  wondered  whether 
even  the  tits  and  other  insectivorous  birds  are 
aware  that  the  faded  leaf  shelters  a  living  cater- 
pillar. ...  It  makes  altogether  three  cases,  and  in 
making  the  third,  and  naturally  the  largest  one,  it 
usually  mines  out  and  cuts  off  the  whole  of  the 
apical  third  of  a  hawthorn  leaf.  It  forms  a  silken 
tube  in  the  mine,  and  inrolls  one  of  the  margins 
to  protect  the  tube  in  which  it  lives.  The  rest  of 
the  leaf  is  spread  out  like  a  wing  on  the  other  side, 
till  time  gives  it  the  curl  which  so  many  dead  leaves 


assume." 


TAILORS  193 

An  allied  species,  Pseudodoxia  limulus,  makes  a 
case  of  minute  fragments  of  moss,  lichen,  and  grains 
of  sand.  The  caterpillar  feeds  upon  the  mosses 
and  lichens  that  grow  on  rocks  and  trees  in  the 
island  of  Ceylon,  and  the  materials  of  which  the 
case  is  composed  give  it  a  doubly  protective  character 
since  they  cause  it  to  assimilate  with  the  surround- 
ings. The  lower  end  of  the  case  spreads  out  into 
a  shield-like  hood  which  quite  hides  that  part  of 
the  caterpillar  that  comes  outside  for  the  purpose 
of  feeding.  The  hood  serves  also  to  close  the 
mouth  of  the  case  whilst  the  insect  is  in  the  chrysalis 
stage,  for  before  undergoing  the  change  the  full- 
grown  caterpillar  moors  its  case  to  the  rock  or  tree, 
and  folding  down  the  edges  of  the  hood  as  though 
it  were  the  flap  of  an  envelope,  secures  it  in  position 
with  silk  threads. 

Bates  mentions  a  caterpillar  (Saccophora)  he  met 
with  on  the  Amazons  which  has  this  tailoring  habit, 
but  on  a  much  larger  scale  than  those  we  have  been 
considering.  The  caterpillar  feeds  upon  various 
species  of  Melastomacese,  and  constructs  cases  by 
selecting  suitable-sized  leaves  of  its  food-plant  and 
converting  them  into  tubes  by  rolling  the  edges 
one  in  the  other  and  securing  them  with  silk.  They 
make  the  interior  comfortable  ^by  lining  it  with  a 
thick  web  of  silk.  The  case  inhabited  by  a  full- 
grown  caterpillar  is  two  inches  long,  and  as  the 
weight  is  too  great  to  be  constantly  supported  by 
the  insect,  when  it  moves  to  a  new  leaf  with  a  view 
to  eating  it,  the  case  is  attached  by  a  few  threads 

13 


194  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

to  the  leaf  or  to  a  twig  that  will  enable  it  to  reach 
the  leaf. 

If  in  summer  time  we  visit  any  considerable 
pond  where  there  are  plenty  of  water-weeds,  we 
are  sure  to  be  attracted  by  the  sight  of  numerous 
pretty  moths  flying  about  over  the  water  and 
settling  on  the  aquatic  vegetation.  These  represent 
several  species  of  Pyrales,  and  are  popularly  known 
as  China-marks  from  the  character  of  their  wing 
ornamentation.  The  reason  for  their  presence  in 
this  rather  unlikely  habitat  for  day-flying  moths 
is  that  their  caterpillars  are  aquatic,  which  in  itself 
is  an  unusual  thing  for  the  caterpillar  of  a  moth. 

The  caterpillar  of  the  Brown  China- mark  (Hydro- 
campa  nympbeata)  feeds  upon  the  leaves  of  the 
Broad-leaved  Pond- weed  (Potamogeton  natans),  whose 
brownish,  oily-looking  ovals  float  with  the  lower 
surface  in  close  contact  with  the  water  and  the 
upper  surface  exposed  to  the  air  and  always  dry. 
Now' the  caterpillar  might  feed  on  the  upper  surface 
of  the  leaves  and,  so  long  as  it  did  not  eat  through 
the  lower  cuticle,  run  little  risk  of  being  drowned. 
But  this  the  species  has  probably  found  out  in 
the  far  past  would  expose  it  to  the  attacks  of  many 
enemies.  So  it  has  chosen  to  spend  its  existence 
as  a  caterpillar  on  the  under  side  of  the  leaf,  though 
this  necessitates  always  being  submerged. 

But  our  caterpillar  is  one  of  the  tailors,  though 
not  one  of  the  common  run.  Long  before  man 
ever  thought  of  descending  into  deep  water  dressed 
in  a  watertight  costume  that  contained  air,  our 


TAILORS  195 

little  Hydrocampa  had  elaborated  an  outfit  that 
enables  it  to  remain  under  water  for  months.  It 
is  an  air-breather,  and  it  is  necessary  therefore  that 
its  dress  should  contain  a  considerable  volume  of 
that  commodity.  This  it  does  by  cutting  out  a 
piece  of  leaf  of  the  desired  shape  and  size  from  the 
under  side  of  the  leaf.  This  is  attached  to  another 
part  of  the  leaf  by  silk  threads  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  two  under  surfaces  are  opposed.  The 
reason  for  this  detail  is  that  the  leaf  is  slightly 
concave  beneath,  and  when  the  two  concavities 
come  together  they  form  a  hollow  pouch.  The 
second  leaf  is  then  cut  to  correspond  with  the 
piece  attached  to  it,  so  that  there  is  now  a  lentil- 
shaped  case  quite  detached  from  the  leaf  and 
available  for  removal  from  leaf  to  leaf. 

In  ponds  where  the  yellow  water-lily  grows  as 
well  as  Potamogeton,  the  caterpillar,  as  the  summer 
advances,  transfers  its  case  to  the  former  plant, 
the  more  fleshy  leaf  probably  supplying  a  more 
suitable  pabulum  for  its  increased  size.  When  the 
caterpillar  is  full-grown  it  is  about  an  inch  in  length. 
The  caterpillar  does  not  feed  upon  the  material 
of  its  case,  as  is  done  by  some  other  tailors,  so  the 
problem  to  be  solved  is  how  to  construct  the  case 
that  it  will  keep  out  water  and  yet  permit  the 
caterpillar  to  put  out  the  fore  part  of  its  body  for 
the  purposes  of  feeding  and  locomotion.  At  one 
end  of  the  case  the  edges  are  left  unsewn  for  a 
small  space,  just  sufficient  to  allow  the  caterpillar 
to  protrude,  but  the  opening  is  so  contrived  that 


196  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

when  the  head  of  the  insect  is  withdrawn  the  lips 
of  the  opening  press  together  as  though  closed  by  a 
spring. 

A  remarkable  feature  of  the  story  is  the  fact  that 
when  the  caterpillar  emerges  from  the  egg  it  is  a 
purely  aquatic  insect,  breathing  through  its  skin 
the  oxygen  that  is  dissolved  in  the  water,  for  its 
system  of  air  tubes  is  not  developed  and  their 
external  openings  are  closed.  At  this  period,  too, 
it  is  a  miner  in  the  leaves  of  Po tamo ge ton,  and  its 
mines  are  full  of  water.  Its  skin  is  smooth  and 
remains  wetted.  Its  mining  life  only  lasts  a  few 
days ;  then  it  becomes  a  tailor,  fashioning  a  suit 
of  clothes  that  is  only  a  protection  from  enemies. 

It  was  born  in  July  or  August,  and  like  other 
larvae  it  casts  its  skin  several  times  to  allow  increase 
of  size,  but  no  striking  change  takes  place  in  its 
structure  or  habits  until  the  following  May.  Then 
it  constructs  its  waterproof  suit  of  clothes.  Then 
its  new  skin  is  studded  all  over  with  conical  points, 
large  and  small,  which  serve  to  keep  air  entangled 
between  them,  so  that  if  you  take  it  out  of  its  case 
and  drop  it  in  the  water  it  will  not  become  wetted. 
The  spiracles  along  its  sides  open  to  admit  atmos- 
pheric air  to  its  fully  developed  system  of  air-tubes 
(trachea),  and  its  new  case  remains  always  filled 
with  air.  In  June  or  July — after  a  short  period 
of  rest  as  a  chrysalis— it  emerges  as  a  beautiful 
moth,  which  flies  among  the  reeds. 

Very  similar  is  the  story  of  the  Small  China-mark 
(Cataclysta  lemnata)  which  begins  life  as  an  aquatic 


TAILORS  197 

caterpillar,  and  later  breathes  air ;  but  it  makes 
its  suit  of  clothes  of  the  minute  fronds  of  duck- 
weed (Lemna)  that  float  on  the  surface  of  most 
ponds.  These  are  sewn  together,  as  it  were,  by 
silk  threads  to  a  silken  lining. 

Much  more  generally  known  to  those  who  have 
paid  no  special  attention  to  entomology  are  the 
quaint  little  creatures  known  as  Caddis  Worms, 
though  they  are  not  worms  at  all,  but  the  cater- 
pillars of  hairy-winged,  dull-looking  Caddis  Flies 
(Trichoptera).  Every  one  who  has  peered  into  the 
waters  of  a  running  stream,  or  of  a  clear  stagnant 
pool,  has  seen  these  remarkable  constructions  moving 
over  the  bottom  ;  and  has  felt  a  momentary  interest, 
at  least,  in  the  clever  tailors  who  could  fashion 
such  costumes  for  their  protection. 

The  pond  is  a  dangerous  place  of  residence  for 
any  tender  and  juicy  creature  that  is  not  gifted 
with  power  of  swift  movement,  or  raptorial  limbs  or 
jaws ;  and  the  Caddis  Worm  has  not  been  so 
provided.  There  is  a  long  cylindrical  body  with  a 
skin  of  the  tenderest  character,  except  the  head 
and  three  adjoining  rings  to  which  the  legs  are 
attached ;  these  have  horny  coverings.  So  the 
Caddis  weaves  himself  a  silken  tube  to  which  he 
attaches,  as  he  proceeds,  bits  of  foreign  substances 
which  convert  the  tube  into  a  stronghold  from 
whose  door  the  armour-clad  head  and  legs  can 
protrude  and  haul  the  structure  along. 

Caddis  Worms  are  of  many  species,  and  according 
to  the  traditions  of  his  kind  each  Caddis  selects 


198   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

the  materials  he  considers  most  suitable  for  the 
circumstances  of  his  life.  One  species  (Limnopbilus 
pellucidus)  is  content  with  bits  of  leaves  which 
enable  him  to  pass  unnoticed  among  the  waterweeds 
from  which  they  were  bitten.  Limnopbilus  rhom- 
bicus  takes  short  pieces  of  grass-stem  or  bits  of 
horsetail  and  arranges  them  transversely  to  the 
length  of  the  case,  so  that  the  finished  effect  reminds 
one  of  a  hedgehog.  L.  flavicornis  is  not  so  exclusive 
in  its  choice  of  material ;  it  will  make  its  case  of 
bits  of  thin  twig  not  very  orderly  in  their  arrange- 
ment, or  it  will  capture  small  water-snails,  chiefly 
species  of  Planorbis,  but  often  the  little  freshwater 
bivalves  (Spb&rium),  in  either  case  with  the  shell 
still  tenanted  by  its  builder.  Such  a  dress  of 
living  molluscs  is  apparently  cumbrous  by  reason  of 
its  weight,  so  we  often  find  that  the  tailor  has 
redressed  the  balance  by  fixing  along  each  side  of 
his  tube  a  bit  of  stick  perhaps  twice  its  length. 
This  gives  the  required  buoyancy,  though  not 
sufficient  to  float  the  structure.  Anabolia  nervosa, 
which  makes  its  case  of  small  fragments  of  stone, 
adopts  the  same  method  for  lightening  it.  Seri- 
costoma  and  Setodes  make  their  cases  of  sand,  very 
neatly  spread  over  the  silk  lining,  slightly  tapering 
and  curved.  Setodes  is  in  form  exactly  like  the 
marine  shell  known  as  the  tusk  shell  (Dentalium). 

These  cases,  carefully  examined,  will  be  found 
to  be  broader  at  one  end  than  at  the  other — "  and 
thereby  hangs  a  tale."  The  Caddis  Worm,  as  the 
advance  of  life  causes  it  to  increase  both  in  girth 


PLATE  26 


CADDIS-FLY  AND  CADDIS-CASES. 


Page  198 


An  example  of  the  four-winged  flies  whose  aquatic  grubs  construct  portable  houses, 

varying  in  shape  and  material  according  to  the  species  of  builder.     The  upper  ones 

are  of  grains  of  sand  cemented,  two  of  them  strengthened  by  small  sticks.     The 

lower  are  of  bits  of  wood,  leaf  and  snail-shells. 

Photos  by  Author. 


H 

&    s 


a  a 

£  * 


TAILORS  199 

and  length,  does  not  provide  for  the  increment  in 
the  way  adopted  by  the  caterpillar  of  the  Clothes 
Moth.  The  Caddis  Worm's  method  set  down  on 
paper  may  look  suspiciously  like  that  of  the  legendary 
Irishman  who  is  said  to  have  lengthened  a  too 
short  blanket  by  cutting  a  piece  off  the  top  and 
sewing  it  on  the  bottom.  As  the  Caddis  case  gets 
too  strait,  he  cuts  a  piece  off  the  rear,  which  is  the 
inconvenient  portion,  and  makes  additions  to  the 
front  end.  By  always  maintaining  the  slight 
tapering  form  in  this  way,  there  is  never  any 
necessity  to  split  the  case  down  the  sides  and  insert 
gussets. 

Before  the  change  to  the  chrysalis  stage  comes 
the  Caddis  Worm  prepares  for  it  by  stopping  up 
the  ends  of  its  case  against  unfriendly  visitors. 
Care  is  taken,  however,  to  allow  a  sufficient  gap 
for  water  to  flow  through,  for  even  in  the  pupa 
state  it  requires  to  breathe.  The  stopping  is 
variously  effected  according  to  species  :  some  using 
vegetable  debris  to  form  a  plug,  others  spinning  a 
grating  of  silk  threads. 

Micropterna,  which  lives  in  swift  streams,  takes 
precautions  against  its  case  being  swept  down- 
stream, and  perhaps  buried,  owing  to  the  absence 
of  guiding  limbs  from  its  doorway.  Its  method 
is  to  get  bigger  stones  than  its  case  consists  of,  and 
to  attach  these  to  the  front  or  wider  end.  It  then 
closes  up  that  end  with  a  silk  grating,  doubles  on 
itself  in  the  case,  and  thrusts  its  head  out  at  the 
smaller  end.  It  digs  a  hole  in  the  bed  of  the 


200   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

stream  wide  enough  and  deep  enough  to  admit  its 
case,  which  it  then  up-ends  and  allows  to  sink  into 
the  pit  until  stopped  by  the  larger  stones  recently- 
added  to  the  other  end.  It  now  resumes  its  former 
position  in  the  case  and  changes  into  the  chrysalis. 
Its  case  is  now  a  vertical  tower,  fixed  by  the  weight 
of  its  upper  end.  The  pupae  escape  from  their 
cases  before  undergoing  the  final  change  into 
Caddis  Flies ;  and  whilst  some  species  emerge  from 
the  chrysalis  at  the  surface  of  the  water,  others  first 
make  their  way  to  land. 

Among  the  allies  of  the  Caddis  which  turn  their 
clothes  into  fixed  residences  by  attaching  them  to 
stones,  etc.,  are  several  species  of  the  Hydropsychides. 
One  of  these,  Rhyaco-phylax,  which  Moller  found 
in  the  rapids  of  Brazilian  rivulets,  in  addition  to  its 
suit  of  clothes,  or  house,  proper,  builds  a  funnel- 
shaped  verandah  to  it.  The  verandah  is  covered 
with  a  delicate  network  of  silk.  Now  the  house  is 
always  built  with  its  door  looking  up  stream,  so 
that  as  the  current  flows  through  the  network  of 
the  verandah  anything  suitable  for  food  is  strained 
out  and  falls  handy  to  the  mouth  of  Rhyacophylax.. 
Somewhat  similar  is  the  device  of  a  North  American 
species  of  Hydro-psyche,  which  attaches  the  widest 
circumference  of  its  net  to  bits  of  twig  and  the 
stems  of  water  weeds.  These  two  are  entitled  to 
be  classed  as  Trappers  as  well  as  Tailors. 

We  have  already  described  the  way  in  which 
the  caterpillars  of  the  Coleophorid  moths,  beginning 
life  as  leaf-miners,  make  for  themselves  portable 


TAILORS  201 

houses.  Another  leaf-miner,  but  of  the  order 
Hymenoptera,  and  the  Sawfly  family,  shows  remark- 
able skill  as  a  cutter-out  and  liner  of  a  winter 
garment.  This  insect  is  the  Maple  Leaf-cutter 
(Phyllotoma  aceris),  and  the  grub  subsists  by  entering 
the  substance  of  maple  and  sycamore  leaves  and 
eating  out  the  cellular  matter  between  the  upper 
and  the  lower  cuticles.  It  is  a  very  soft  and  delicate 
creature,  and  apparently  it  fears  that  when  the 
leaves  dry  up  and  fall  in  autumn,  it,  too,  may  dry 
up.  So  it  sets  to  work  to  circumvent  fate  ;  and 
does  it. 

The  sycamore-leaf  has  five  pointed  lobes,  and  the 
grub  always  begins  its  operations  at  one  of  these 
points,  cutting  away  and  eating  on  either  side  and 
in  front  of  him  from  that  point,  leaving  an  area 
behind  him  from  which  the  green  material  has 
been  completely  cleared.  At  length  he  appears  to 
feel  that  he  has  eaten  all  that  is  necessary  to  enable 
him  to  work  out  the  remainder  of  his  destiny 
fasting. 

He  now  sets  to  work  to  cut  out  his  winter  clothes. 
Without  the  aid  of  compasses  he  strikes  out  a  true 
circle  in  the  upper  cuticle  of  the  leaf.  With  his 
jaws  he  makes  a  series  of  cuts,  each  one  forming  a 
segment  of  the  circle,  but  separated  from  the  next 
cut  by  a  minute  interval  of  unbroken  skin.  He 
finishes  within  the  breadth  of  a  pin  at  the  point 
where  he  started,  and  the  circle  has  taken  nearly 
an  hour  to  cut.  The  circle  is  now  complete,  but 
it  remains  attached  to  the  rest  of  the  leaf  much  as 


202   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

a  postage-stamp  is  attached  to  its  fellows  in  a  sheet 
of  stamps.  One  can  be  removed  from  the  centre 
of  the  sheet  by  a  little  pressure.  The  perforations 
in  the  leaf  are  short  gashes  instead  of  the  dots  of 
the  stamp-sheet.  Here,  again,  it  will  be  seen,  is 
an  anticipation  by  nature  of  a  human  invention. 

Having  all  but  separated  his  disc,  our  grub  pro- 
ceeds to  weave  an  exceedingly  fine  tissue  of  silk 
from  the  edges  of  the  disc,  making  a  complete  floor 
beneath  himself.  This  appears  to  us  to  be  an 
exceedingly  clever  piece  of  work,  much  more  so 
than  the  weaving  of  the  oval  cocoon  cleverly  con- 
structed by  the  caterpillars  of  many  moths.  There 
the  spinning  is  in  all  directions,  and  the  caterpillar 
has  room  to  move  as  he  pleases  to  effect  it.  In 
the  beginning  of  that  work,  as  we  have  shown  in 
our  first  chapter,  the  caterpillar  attaches  threads 
to  all  available  points  to  form  an  outer  scaffold, 
inside  which  he  can  fashion  his  egg-shaped  cocoon 
with  comparative  ease.  In  the  case  of  our  Maple 
Leaf-cutter  not  one  of  his  threads  may  extend 
beyond  the  cut  edges  of  his  disc,  or  his  purpose 
will  be  defeated.  The  fabric  to  be  woven  is  a 
flat  tissue,  and  this  part  of  the  performance  may  be 
likened  to  a  weaver  lying  in  bed  and  weaving  a 
complete  bottom-sheet  under  his  body. 

The  grub  is  equal  to  his  task ;  for  the  next  we 
know  is  that  the  disc  has  separated  from  the  rest 
of  the  cuticle,  and  is  now  the  upper  side  of  a  circular 
flat  bag,  the  lower  side  being  of  closely  woven  silk, 
and  the  grub  lies  snug  between.  How  the  separa- 


TAILORS  203 

tion  from  the  leaf  is  effected  is  by  no  means  clear. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  it  is  due  to  the  pull  of 
the  silk  threads  beneath  ;  but  this  can  scarcely  be 
so,  as  the  silk  floor  sags  slightly  in  the  middle,  which 
indicates  that  it  is  not  taut,  whilst  the  vegetable 
roof  is  flat.  Our  own  theory  is  that  the  almost 
complete  severance  of  the  disc  from  the  rest  of  the 
leaf  cuts  off  so  much  of  the  supply  of  moisture 
that  the  disc  contracts  and  so  effects  complete 
severance. 

You  may  be  looking  at  one  of  these  discs,  still  in 
position  on  the  leaf,  when  suddenly  it  separates 
and  drops  to  the  ground.  The  disc,  if  it  has 
alighted  on  an  unsatisfactory  spot,  begins  to  move 
about  with  shuffling  jerks,  apparently  due  to  the 
grub  taking  hold  with  its  hind  body  and  suddenly 
jerking  the  bulk  of  its  body  to  one  side.  Judging 
from  the  fact  that  the  way  to  induce  these  move- 
ments is  to  expose  the  disc  to  strong  sunlight  (or 
electric  light)  they  appear  to  be  a  provision  against 
the  grub  getting  dried  up.  It  seeks  a  shady,  moist 
position,  where  it  can  lie  safely  all  through  the 
autumn  and  winter.  Not  until  spring  does  it 
change  into  a  chrysalis  in  its  cell,  and  a  little  later, 
when  the  maple  and  the  sycamore  are  in  leaf,  a 
four-winged  Sawfly  emerges,  and  sets  about  pro- 
viding for  the  continuance  of  the  race.  > 

So  far  we  have  considered  tailors  that  rely  entirely 
or  partly  upon  materials  they  have  adapted  to 
their  use.  We  have  now  to  glance  at  a  group 
which  construct  clothing  from  the  waste  products 


204   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

of  their  bodies.  The  insects  that  work  in  this 
material  are  chiefly  the  grubs  of  beetles  ;  but  there 
is  at  least  one  remarkable  example  from  the  moths. 
This  is  a  South  American  species,  known  as  the 
Hammock  Moth  (Perofhora  sanguinolenta),  from 
the  extraordinary  performance  of  the  caterpillar. 
Several  allied  species  make  cases  for  themselves  by 
sewing  up  the  edges  of  leaves,  and  carry  these  about 
from  place  to  place  on  their  food-plants,  tempor- 
arily fixing  them  by  silken  threads,  and,  when  they 
have  exhausted  the  food  within  reach,  cutting  the 
threads  and  moving  the  case  to  a  more  leafy  part. 

The  caterpillar  of  the  Hammock  Moth,  however, 
utilizes  its  own  excrement,  which  is  of  a  form 
specially  suited  for  this  use,  and  builds  up  a  spindle- 
shaped  case  which  is  enlarged  as  the  caterpillar 
grows.  It  is  slung  up  hammock-fashion  by  silk 
threads  at  each  end ;  and  the  caterpillar  protrudes 
sufficiently  to  reach  neighbouring  leaves,  but 
withdraws  entirely  when  it  suspects  danger  from 
exposure. 

In  and  about  pine-woods  where  there  are  the 
huge  nests  of  the  Wood  Ant  (Formica  rufa),  we. 
may  frequently  find  upon  the  birch-trees  a  beetle 
that  is  often  mistaken  for  a  large  kind  of  lady- bird, 
owing  to-  the  fact  that  it  has  red  wing-cases  and 
each  of  these  bears  two  'unequal  black  spots.  This 
is  Clytbra  quadrimaculata,  the  second  name  having 
reference  to  these  four  black  spots.  It  is  really  of 
different  shape  from  the  Lady-birds,  which  are 
rounder  in  outline  and  more  convex.  The  reason 


TAILORS  205 

for  its  presence  in  the  ant-infested  woods  is  that 
it  spends  the  larval  and  pupal  parts  of  its  existence 
actually  in  the  nests  of  the  Wood  Ants. 

Ants'  nests  harbour  a  number  of  other  insects, 
some  of  which  are  messmates  whose  presence  is 
cherished  by  the  ants,  some  enemies,  and  some 
whose  class  has  not  yet  been  determined.  The 
presence  of  Clythra  larva  in  the  nest  has  long 
been  a  well-known  fact ;  but  why  it  was  there  and 
what  it  did  for  a  living  were  problems.  It  was 
known  that  the  larva  protected  itself  by  constructing 
a  leathery  case,  and  this  seemed  to  imply  that  its 
relations  with  the  ants  were  not  of  the  friendliest 
character ;  but  beyond  that,  little  was  known. 
Recently  Donisthorpe  in  the  course  of  his  investiga- 
tions into  the  economy  of  the  ants  and  their  lodgers, 
has  filled  in  some  of  the  outlines  with  facts.  He 
says  of  Clythra  : 

"  The  beetle  itself  feeds  on  the  young  leaves  and 
shoots  of  birch-trees,  etc.  Its  female  seeks  a  tree 
or  shrub,  above  or  near  a  nest  of  the  Wood  Ant, 
and  drops  her  eggs  on  the  ground.  She  covers  the 
eggs,  which  she  holds  with  her  back  feet,  with 
excrementitious  matter,  which  she  arranges  in 
layers.  This  makes  them  resemble  a  small  bract, 
or  part  of  a  plant ;  in  fact,  they  look  exactly  like 
the  end  of  a  birch  catkin.  The  ants  pick  this 
up  and  carry  it  into  the  nest,  as  they  do  with  bits 
of  vegetable  refuse. 

"  When  the  young  grub  hatches,  it  builds  a 
small  black  case  on  the  covering  of  the  egg.  This 


206  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

case  has  V-shaped  ridges  on  one  side,  and  is  con- 
structed of  earth  mixed  with  excrementitious 
matter.  As  the  grub  grows  it  enlarges  its  case,  by 
scraping  off  portions  of  the  inside  with  its  jaws 
and  plastering  more  on  the  outside.  It  feeds  on 
the  vegetable  refuse  of  the  nest,  and  also  on  the 
pellets  of  the  ants.  When  full-grown,  the  grub 
fastens  the  mouth  of  the  case  to  a  bit  of  wood,  or 
other  object  in  the  nest,  and,  turning  round  inside 
the  case,  changes  to  a  chrysalis.  When  hatched, 
the  perfect  beetle  cuts  a  rim  round  the  end  of  the 
case  with  its  jaws,  forming  a  cap  which  it  forces 
off.  It  then  crawls  out  of  the  nest  and  flies  away." 

The  brilliant  little  beetles  of  the  genus  Crypto- 
cephalus  that  are  frequent  on  flowers  in  sunny 
places  have  a  very  similar  habit  of  protection  during 
the  grub  stage,  though  they  do  not  live  in  ants' 
nests.  Much  the  same  may  be  said  of  Lamprosoma. 
The  Lily  Beetle  (Crioceris  merdigera),  whose  larva 
is  destructive  to  the  leaves  of  lilies,  disguises  itself 
in  the  grub  stage  by  covering  its  back  with  excre- 
ment, which  dries  into  a  hard  crust.  The  larvae 
of  the  Tortoise  Beetles  (Cassida)  have  a  similar 
habit,  though  a  less  crude  one.  Nature  has  fitted 
them  with  a  fork-like  extension  of  the  hind  body 
which  is  carried  turned  up  over  their  backs.  Upon 
this  the  excrement  is  spread  and  forms  a  sort  of 
umbrella  which  effectually  disguises  the  insect. 
An  allied  species,  Dolicbotoma  -palmarum,  has  a 
more  complicated  instrument  for  the  same  purpose. 

Dr.   Sharp   describes   a  small  beetle  of  tropical 


TAILORS  207 

America,  Porphyraspis  tristis,  which  is  even  more 
remarkable.  He  says  it  "  is  apparently  a  common 
insect  at  Bahia,  where  it  lives  on  a  cocoa-palm. 
The  larva  is  short  and  broad,  and  completely 
covers  itself  with  a  very  dense  coat  of  fibres,  each 
many  times  the  length  of  the  body,  and  elaborately 
curved  so  as  to  form  a  round  nest  under  which  the 
larva  lives.  On  examination  it  is  found  that  these 
long  threads  are  all  attached  to  the  anal  extremity 
of  the  insect,  and  there  seems  no  alternative  to 
believing  that  each  thread  is  formed  by  small 
pieces  of  fibre  that  have  passed  through  the  ali- 
mentary canal,  and  are  subsequently  stuck  together, 
end  to  end.  The  process  of  forming  these  long 
fibres,  each  one  from  scores  of  pieces  of  excrement, 
and  giving  them  the  appropriate  curve,  is  truly 
remarkable.  The  fibres  nearest  to  the  body  of 
the  larva  are  abruptly  curled  so  as  to  fit  exactly, 
and  make  an  even  surface  ;  but  the  outside  fibres 
stand  out  in  a  somewhat  bushy  fashion.  The  con- 
struction is  much  like  that  of  a  tiny  bird's  nest. 
Senor  Lacerda  informed  the  writer  that  the  larva 
makes  a  nest  as  soon  as  it  is  hatched." 

The  Brown  Lacewing  (Hemerobius)  in  its  larval 
condition  is  known  as  the  Aphis  Lion,  from  the 
havoc  it  creates  in  a  cluster  of  the  Green  Fly, 
seizing  them  and  sucking  them  dry.  From  each 
segment  of  its  body  on  either  side  the  larva  has 
fleshy  projections  from  which  extend  several  long 
hairs.  Upon  these,  with  the  aid  of  a  few  threads, 
it  supports  the  empty  skins  of  the  aphides  it  has 


208   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

sucked  dry,  much  as  the  North  American  Indian 
of  the  Fenimore  Cooper  days  used  to  decorate 
himself  with  the  scalps  of  his  enemies. 

You  see  a  minute  heap  of  rubbish  among  a  host 
of  Green  Fly,  and  if  you  watch  it  closely  will  see  a 
pair  of  caliper-shaped  jaws  thrust  out  and  closed 
upon  one  of  the  plant-suckers.  It  is  sucked  in 
turn,  and  the  empty  skin  is  thrown  over  the  hidden 
head  and  added  to  the  jacket  of  trophies  with  which 
the  Aphis  Lion  is  at  once  clothed  and  disguised. 
Feeding  upon  such  juicy  food,  he  is  himself  suc- 
culent, and  would  probably  tempt  a  bird  to  eat 
him,  but  no  bird  is  likely  to  expect  to  find  succulence 
under  that  heap  of  dry  skins.  Or  one  might  regard 
this  strange  jacket  as  an  appeal  to  the  undiscriminat- 
ing  gardener  who  is  "  death  on  all  insects  " — See 
what  good  I  have  done  you  !  behold  the  scalps  of 
your  enemies  ! 

The  Fly  Bug  (Reduvius  fiersonatus),  which  preys 
upon  its  detestable  relative,  the  Bed  Bug,  disguises 
itself  in  a  somewhat  similar  way  by  covering  its 
folded  wings,  legs,  and  antennae  with  rubbish, 
chiefly  the  downy  dust  which  results  from  the 
wearing  out  of  cottony  and  woolly  fabrics  and  is 
known  to  housewives  as  flue.  Like  Hemerobius,  it 
would  probably  utilize  the  empty  skins  of  its 
victims,  but  it  has  no  hairs  long  enough  to  hold 
them  in  place ;  and,  therefore,  we  fear  we  are 
scarcely  justified  in  mentioning  it  under  the  head 
of  Tailors. 


IX 
HORTICULTURISTS 


209 


IX 
HORTICULTURISTS 

PROBABLY  there  are  few  passages  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment that  have  been  so  much  quoted  outside 
theological  circles  as  Solomon's  injunction  to  the 
sluggard — to  go  to  the  Ant  and  consider  her  ways. 
For  hundreds  of  years  it  was  generally  accepted 
that  the  further  part  of  it  contained  the  statement 
that  she  hoarded  up  grain  to  tide  the  community 
over  the  winter.  There  is,  of  course,  nothing  of 
the  kind  in  the  passage ;  but  "  profane  "  writers 
among  the  ancients,  and  of  all  periods  down  to  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  were  emphatic 
in  speaking  of  the  Ant  as  a  storer  of  grain.  It  was 
not  until  after  1747,  when  Gould  published  his 
Account  of  English  Ants,  that  the  Ant  began  to  be 
discounted  as  a  moral  object-lesson  and  Solomon 
as  a  veracious  chronicler. 

Gould,  drawing  his  information  entirely  from  his 
studies  of  our  native  species,  declared  that  ants 
do  not  store  up  corn,  Huber,  the  great  historian 
of  the  Ant,  probably  ignorant  of  Gould's  work, 
made  the  same  assertion.  Kirby  and  Spence, 
having  studied  Gould  and  Huber,  were  content  to 


CII 


212   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

take  their  statements  as  to  the  non-storing  habits 
of  the  ants  they  knew  as  indicative  of  the  custom 
of  ants  all  over  the  world  in  this  respect,  and 
contended  that  Solomon's  words,  "  prepares  her 
bread  in  the  summer,  and  gathers  her  food  in  the 
harvest,"  simply  implied  that  she  "  with  commend- 
able prudence  and  foresight,  makes  use  of  the 
proper  seasons  to  collect  a  supply  of  provision 
sufficient  for  her  purposes.  There  is  not  a  word  in 
them  implying  that  she  stores  up  grain  or  other 
provision." 

So  the  matter  stood  until  1873,  when  John  T. 
Moggridge  published  a  book  called  Harvesting  Ants 
and  Trap-door  Spiders.  Being  an  invalid  without 
hope  of  recovery,  he  had  wintered  for  several 
years  at  Mentone,  and  occupied  his  leisure  in  the 
investigation  of  the  flora  and  fauna  of  the  sur- 
rounding country. 

Among  the  insects  that  attracted  his  attention 
were  the  ants  Aphenogaster  barbara  and  A.  structor. 
He  found  that  these  ants — common  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean region,  and  therefore  possibly  the  kind  that 
the  Wise  King  had  in  view — do  store  up  grain, 
though  not  the  large  seeds  of  wheat  and  barley 
that  the  farmer  has  cultivated,  but  those  of  wild 
plants  such  as  fumitory,  nettle,  veronica,  oat,  etc. 
These  they  gather  in  autumn,  and  store  them  in 
underground  chambers  about  three  inches  in 
diameter.  Some  of  these  seeds  are  collected  from 
the  surface  of  the  soil  where  they  have  dropped 
from  the  plants  on  the  splitting  of  the  ripe  seed- 


HORTICULTURISTS  213 

vessels ;    others  are  gathered  by  climbing  the  plant 
and  wresting  off  the  seed-vessels. 

Their  store-houses,  being  underground,  appear  to 
be  the  worst  possible  places  in  which  to  store  grain 
for  future  use,  for  they  offer  the  conditions  of  damp, 
warmth,  and  darkness  favourable  to  germination  and 
growth.  That  they  are  able  to  delay  this  process 
for  some  time  is  evident  by  the  condition  in  which 
the  seeds  have  been  found  by  exploring  the  nest ; 
also  by  the  fact  that  if  the  ants  are  prevented  having 
access  to  their  store-houses,  the  seeds  at  once  begin 
to  germinate. 

When  they  wish  to  make  use  of  their  hoard  they 
allow  a  portion  to  germinate,  thus  setting  up  the 
vital  chemistry  by  which  the  contained  starch  is 
converted  into  sugar  and  made  'available  for  food. 
But  if  growth  were  allowed  to  follow  upon  germina- 
tion, the  sugar  would  be  used  up  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  the  seedling  plant.  So  they  do  what  the 
maltster  does  with  his  germinated  barley  at  this 
stage — he  stops  further  change  by  killing  the  young 
plants.  The  ants  accomplish  this  by  biting  off  the 
radicle  and  the  sprouting  stem,  and  then  drying 
their  malts  in  the  sun. 

But  the  art  of  the  maltster  does  not  fall  properly 
under  the  head  of  horticulture,  though  we  hope 
it  will  be  seen  in  what  follows  that,  in  the  case  of 
the  ants,  it  is  a  related  industry.  The  discovery 
of  these  Harvesting  Ants  of  Europe  was,  however, 
anticipated  by  Lincecum  observing  similar  habits 
in  an  American  Ant,  which  was  afterwards  studied 


2i4  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

more  closely  by  McCook.  This  species  is  known 
as  the  Agricultural  Ant  (Pogonomyrmex  barbatus). 

Lincecum  asserted  that  the  ants  sowed  the  seeds 
of  a  particular  species  of  grass,  known  in  conse- 
quence as  ant- rice  (Aristida  s  trie  to),  and  that  a 
plot  of  ground  in  front  of  the  ant-hill  is  selected 
as  their  harvest-field,  and  carefully  divested  of  all 
other  grasses  and  weeds  during  the  season  of  growth 
of  the  ant-rice. 

McCook  qualifies  Lincecum's  view  of  the  busi- 
ness by  asserting  that  the  ants  do  not  sow  the 
seed  of  ant-rice,  which  is  a  native  grass,  and  there- 
fore sows  itself  as  other  species  do  ;  but  that  they 
clear  off  all  the  other  growths  and  allow  the  Aristida 
a  fair  field  and  no  competition.  They  do  what  all 
competent  agriculturists  and  horticulturists  do  : 
they  weed  the  field  in  order  that  the  remunerative 
crop  shall  lose  none  of  the  nourishment  that  the 
soil  contains.  Their  instruments  are  their  jaws, 
and  with  these  they  can  make  a  few  business-like 
incisions  which  put  a  stop  to  the  further  develop- 
ment of  the  undesirable  weeds. 

When  the  seeds  of  the  ant-rice  are  ripe  and  fall 
to  the  ground  they  are  diligently  gathered,  and 
carried  into  the  ant-hill  one  by  one,  and  stored  in 
special  chambers.  After  wet  weather  when  their 
corn  has  got  moist  and  is  in  danger  of  germinating 
before  they  want  it  to  do  so,  they  bring  it  out  on 
the  first  sunny  day  and  dry  it  thoroughly.  Any 
that  have  sprouted  they  leave  outside.  The  Florida 
Harvester  (Pogonomyrmex  crudelis)  is  not  content 


HORTICULTURISTS  215 

with  gleaning  :  it  ascends  the  stalks  and  gathers 
the  rice  grain  by  grain. 

Above  their  nest  these  Agricultural  Ants  clear  a 
space  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  diameter,  and  from  this 
clearing  several  broad  roads  radiate  into  the  dense 
herbage  to  a  distance  of  fifty  or  sixty  feet.  Dr. 
Lincecum  mentions  one  such  road  that  ran  straight 
and  smooth  for  three  hundred  feet.  When  one 
considers  the  relative  proportions  of  the  road  and 
the  road-maker,  this  is  an  enormous  undertaking. 
Should  a  weed  dare  to  peep  through  the  surface  of 
one  of  these  roads  it  is  immediately  bitten  off. 
There  are  always  streams  of  vigilant  ants  coming 
and  going  along  these  thoroughfares,  and  the  traffic 
serves  to  smooth  and  harden  them.  For  the  busy 
creatures  are  always  bringing  home  supplies  of 
food,  and  it  appears  to  be  the  facilitation  of  this 
traffic  that  causes  the  roads  to  be  made. 

These  ants  appear  to  take  note  of  the  special 
circumstances  of  the  land  they  have  selected  for  a 
settlement.  If  the  ground  is  ordinarily  dry  the 
entrance  to  the  nest  is  a  mere  hole  in  the  centre 
of  a  gently  swelling  mound,  but  if  subject  to  occa- 
sional inundation  the  entrance  will  be  elevated 
into  a  steep  cone,  sometimes  as  much  as  from 
twenty  inches  to  three  feet  high  with  the  opening 
at  the  summit. 

It  is  a  moot  point  whether  Solomon — had  he 
known  of  the  existence  and  the  ways  of  these 
American  agriculturists — would  have  felt  that  he 
could  hold  them  up  as  patterns  to  the  idle;  for 


2i6   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

although  industry  is  their  prevailing  virtue,  should 
they  meet  with  a  foraging  party  returning  home 
laden  with  provender,  they  are  not  so  virtuous  as 
to  be  content  with  passing  the  time  of  day  with 
their  kinsfolk  from  another  settlement,  but  they 
fall  upon  them  and  endeavour  to  despoil  them  of 
the  fruits  of  their  labour. 

Under  the  clear  disc  on  the  surface  are  the 
galleries  of  the  ants  connecting  with  flat-floored 
chambers  in  which  they  live  and  tend  their  young, 
and  others  that  are  set  apart  as  granaries.  These 
are  placed  at  a  depth  of  about  two  feet,  so  that  the 
grain  shall  be  unaffected  by  changes  of  temperature 
up  above  ;  but  the  galleries  have  been  traced  to  a 
depth  of  fifteen  feet  below  the  surface. 

In  many  species  of  ants  there  are  two  grades  of 
workers — workers  minor  who  do  most  of  the  work  of 
the  community,  and  workers  major  who  run  largely 
to  head  and  have  powerful  jaws.  These  workers 
major  among  the  agricultural  ants  appear  to  be 
set  apart  as  seed-crushers,  using  their  jaws  to  crack 
the  hard  malted  seeds  into  handy-sized  pieces  that 
the  workers  minor  can  deal  with  comfortably,, 
masticating  and  mixing  them  with  saliva  to  make 
them  a  digestible  food  for  the  larvae. 

Dr.  Wheeler,  the  most  recent  historian  of  the 
American  ants,  supports  McCook's  view  that  the 
ants  do  not  actually  sow  the  seeds  of  the  ant-rice 
(McCook  at  least  says  that  Lincecum's  statement  is 
not  proven) ;  but  his  statement  shows  that  Lincecum 
made  a  not  unnatural  inference  from  the  facts, 


PLATE  29 


MUSHROOM-GROWING  ANTS. 


Page  218 


A  party  of  leaf-cutting  Saiiba-ants  returning  with  a  load  of   leaves  which 
will  be  cut  up  to  form  new  mushroom  beds. 

Drawn  by  T.  Carrerasi 


HORTICULTURISTS  217 

Wheeler  says  that  exploration  of  the  nests  in  winter 
reveals  many  granaries  in  which  the  garnered  seeds 
have  sprouted. 

"  Sometimes,  in  fact,  the  chambers  are  literally 
stuffed  with  dense  wads  of  seedling  grasses  and 
other  plants.  On  sunny  days  the  ants  may  often 
be  seen  removing  these  seeds  when  they  have 
sprouted  too  far  to  be  fit  for  food,  and  carrying 
them  to  the  refuse-heap,  which  is  always  at  the 
periphery  of  the  crater  or  cleared  earthen  disc. 
Here  the  seeds,  thus  rejected  as  inedible,  often 
take  root,  and  in  the  spring  form  an  arc  or  a  com- 
plete circle  of  growing  plants  around  the  nest. 
Since  the  ant  feeds  largely,  though  by  no  means 
exclusively,  on  grass  seeds,  and  since,  moreover, 
the  seeds  of  Aristida  are  a  very  common  and  favourite 
article  of  food,  it  is  easy  to  see  why  this  grass  should 
predominate  in  the  circle." 

Long  before  the  discovery  of  these  American 
and  European  harvesters,  however,  Colonel  Sykes 
had  announced  an  Indian  ant,  which  he  named 
Atta  (now  Pheidole)  providens,  that  had  somewhat 
similar  habits.  At  Poona  he  saw  these  Ants  in 
January  and  February  storing  up  the  seeds  (then 
ripe)  of  a  species  of  grass  which  they  took  into  their 
nests,  and  in  June  and  October  he  saw  them  bringing 
up  these  seeds  from  their  stores  and  exposing  them 
to  the  sun  in  heaps  as  big  as  a  handful,  apparently 
for  the  purpose  of  drying  them  after  being  wetted 
by  the  rains  of  the  monsoon.  He  communicated 
bis  discovery  to  the  Entomological  Society  of 


2i 8   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

London,,  and  the  facts  are  recorded  in  the  first 
volume  of  the  Proceedings  of  that  body. 

But  the  horticultural  ants  proper  are  the  terrible 
Leaf-cutting  Ants  (Atta  cepbalotes),  also  variously 
styled  Parasol  Ants  and  (the  native  name)  Saiiba 
Ants.  They  are  natives  of  Tropical  America,  and 
are  the  pests  of  those  in  that  part  of  the  world 
who  have  established  plantations  of  coffee  and 
orange.  The  Saiiba  in  some  districts  makes  culti- 
vation impossible  for  the  human  horticulturist,  in 
order  that  she  may  have  plenty  of  material  for  her 
own  speciality,  which  is  mushroom-growing.  Bates, 
who  gave  an  account  of  what  he  had  observed  of 
their  operations  in  Brazil,  says  they  mount  the 
tree  in  multitudes,  the  individuals  engaged  in  this 
work  being  all  workers  minor. 

"  Each  one  places  itself  on  the  surface  of  a  leaf, 
and  cuts  with  its  sharp  scissor-like  jaws  a  nearly 
semicircular  incision  on  the  upper  side ;  it  then 
takes  the  edge  between  its  jaws,  and  by  a  sharp 
jerk  detaches  the  piece.  Sometimes  they  let  the 
leaf  drop  to  the  ground,  where  a  little  heap  accu- 
mulates, until  carried  off  by  another  relay  of 
workers ;  but,  generally,  each  marches  off  with 
the  piece  it  has  operated  upon,  and  as  all  take  the 
same  road  to  their  colony,  the  path  they  follow  be- 
comes in  a  short  time  smooth  and  bare,  looking  like 
the  impression  of  a  cart-wheel  through  the  herbage." 

Bates  was  not  able  to  discover  for  what  purpose 
the  ants  went  to  all  this  trouble.  He  thought  he 
had  found jhe  reason,  and  supposed  the  leaves  were 


HORTICULTURISTS  219 

gathered  for  thatching  the  entrances  to  their 
underground  cities.  In  this  surmise,  however,  he 
was  wrong,  as  Belt  and  Fritz  Miiller  have  shown. 
The  leaves  are  taken  down  and  packed  in  under- 
ground chambers,  where  they  ferment  and  decay, 
forming  a  sort  of  hot-bed  of  leaf-mould  on  which 
rie  ants  grow  mushrooms  I  But  why  ? 

The  Saiiba  Ant  is  a  mycophagist !  Well,  it 
might  be  argued,  there  are  plenty  of  naturally 
grown  fungi  in  the  forests  that  the  Saiibas  could 
make  use  of  without  going  to  the  trouble  to  grow 
them  for  themselves.  True,  but  the  naturally 
grown  mushrooms  are  seasonal,  and  their  appear- 
ance is  modified  by  fluctuations  of  temperature 
and  humidity.  The  human  mushroom-cultivator 
has  discovered  that  by  preparing  suitable  beds  in 
dark  places  where  he  can  control  the  warmth  and 
dampness,  he  can  have  continuous  crops ;  but  the 
Saiiba  was  before  him  in  making  this  discovery. 

Thomas  Belt  was  not  content  to  observe  the 
leaves  piled  up  on  top  of  the  nests.  He  dug  out 
the  underground  chambers,  and  found  that  some 
of  them  were  rounded  and  five  inches  across,  three- 
fourths  of  the  space  being  filled  with  a  spongy 
mass  of  speckled  brown  material.  There  were  no 
green  leaves  to  be  seen,  but  he  satisfied  himself 
that  the  spongy  mass  was  the  remains  of  them, 
acted  upon  by  damp  heat  after  being  finely  cut 
up.  Through  all  the  mass  ran  white  threads  of 
fungus  mycelium.  The  ant  larvae  were  brought 
to  these  same  chambers,  and  were  fed  upon  bits 


220   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

of  fungus  snipped  off  by  the  jaws  of  the  attendant 
workers  minor. 

To  the  larger  workers  is  entrusted  the  task  of 
making  these  mushroom  beds.  The  green  leaves 
are  brought  to  them,  and  they  cut  them  into 
shreds,  cleaning  each  shred  by  licking  it,  then 
rolling  it  into  a  little  pellet  and  throwing  it  upon 
the  heap.  It  is  also  stated  that  when  they  have 
completed  the  formation  of  a  new  bed  it  is  inocu- 
lated with  the  fungus  by  bringing  a  piece  of  the 
old  bed  with  its  mycelium  threads,  just  as  our 
mushroom- growers  do.  When  the  beds  are  ex- 
hausted and  no  longer  produce  the  fungus  the 
chamber  is  abandoned,  and  the  remainder  of  the 
mushroom-bed  is  gradually  eaten  up  by  the  larvae 
of  beetles  and  other  insects  that  are  always  scaveng- 
ing in  such  nests. 

Such  a  method  of  cultivation  by  insects  should 
not  be  dismissed  as  a  mere  curiosity  of  natural 
history.  The  process  is  so  complicated  that  it 
implies  a  much  higher  order  of  intelligence  than  is 
usually  allowed  to  insects  by  human  philosophy. 
If  Lincecum's  statement  that  the  Texas  ants 
actually  sowed  their  seeds  in  cleared  ground  had 
been  substantiated  by  later  observations,  although 
remarkable  it  would  appear  trivial  as  compared 
with  the  conduct  of  the  Saiiba  ;  for  the  Texas 
ants  would  have  been  merely  sowing  an  actual 
article  of  food  in  order  to  get  more  of  it,  much  as 
other  species  of  ant  steal  larvae  and  pupae  from  a 
neighbouring  nest  in  order  that  they  may  quickly 


HORTICULTURISTS  221 

raise  more  workers.  But  the  Saiibas  laboriously 
collect  green  leaves  which  are  not  food,  and  care- 
fully prepare  them  in  order  that  they  may  support 
a  crop  that  may  be  used  as  food  by  them.  This  is 
cj>mething  very  different,  and  is  worthy  of  being 
pondered. 

In  addition  to  their  skill  as  cultivators,  the 
Saiibas  are  notable  miners.  We  omitted  them 
from  mention  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  the  mining 
industry  because  we  knew  they  must  be  treated 
here.  On  this  point,  therefore,  we  will  be  content 
now  with  quoting  a  paragraph  from  Bates : 

"  The  underground  abodes  of  this  wonderful 
ant  are  known  to  be  very  extensive.  The  Rev. 
Hamlet  Clark  has  related  that  the  Sauba  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  a  species  closely  related  to  ours  [that  is, 
the  Amazon  species],  has  excavated  a  tunnel  under 
the  bed  of  the  river  Parahyba,  at  a  place  where 
it  is  as  broad  as  the  Thames  at  London  Bridge. 
At  the  Magoary  rice  mills,  near  Para,  these  ants 
once  pierced  the  embankment  of  a  large  reservoir ; 
the  great  body  of  water  which  it  contained  escaped 
before  the  damage  could  be  repaired. 

"In  the  Botanic  Gardens,  at  Para,  an  enterprising 
French  gardener  tried  all  he  could  think  of  to 
extirpate  the  Saiiba.  With  this  object  he  made 
fires  over  some  of  the  main  entrances  to  their 
colonies,  and  blew  the  fumes  of  sulphur  down  the 
galleries  by  means  of  bellows.  I  saw  tjie  smoke 
issue  from  a  great  number  of  outlets,  one  of  which 
was  seventy  yards  distant  from  the  place  where 


222   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

the  bellows  were  used.     This  shows  how  extensively 
the  underground  galleries  are  ramified." 

Miller  has  described  similar  fungus-growing 
habits  in  Atta  discigera  and  A.  hystrix  in  South 
America.  They  make  covered  ways,  nearly  thirty 
yards  long  and  about  half  an  inch  broad,  leading 
from  their  nest  to  the  plants  known  as  Cupheas, 
both  in  the  forest  and  in  the  open  country.  They 
climb  up  the  stems  of  the  Cuphea  ;  and  an  ant  starts 
at  the  edge  of  a  leaf  and  in  five  minutes  cuts  out  a 
piece.  When  this  has  been  cut  almost  completely 
the  ant  moves  off  it  to  the  main  portion  of  the 
leaf,  cuts  through  the  remaining  part  and  drags 
up  the  now  severed  disc,  grips  it  with  its  jaws  and 
lifts  it  above  its  head.  It  then  climbs  down  the 
stem  of  the  plant,  into  the  covered  way,  and  travels 
along  it  at  a  very  uniform  pace,  and  deposits  its 
load  in  the  nest.  He  found  that  the  average 
load  was  twice  the  weight  of  the  ant,  but  in  some 
cases  it  was  as  much  as  ten  times. 

The  nest  was  about  six  feet  in  diameter,  below 
the  surface  of  the  soil,  and  covered  with  a  heap 
of  withered  leaves  and  twigs.  It  was  filled  with 
a  spongy  grey  mass  excavated  into  galleries  and 
chambers,  so  that  it  resembled  a  coarse  sponge. 
Through  the  galleries  ants  ran,  and  in  the  chambers 
were  seen  larvae  and  pupae.  This  sponge-like  mass 
consists  of  small  round  particles  of  the  prepared 
Cuphea-leaves,  and  constitutes  the  fungus-garden. 
When  fresh  these  pellets  are  dark  green,  then  be- 
come blue-black,  and  finally  turn  yellowish  red. 


HORTICULTURISTS  223 

A  clear  space  is  left  all  around  this  spongy  mass 
which  at  no  point  is  allowed  to  come  in  contact 
with  the  walls  or  roof.  The  mass  is  held  together 
by  threads  of  mycelium,  and  upon  its  surface  are 
innumerable  minute  round  bodies  of  a  white  colour 
which  M6ller  termed  "  Kohl-rabi  clumps."  These 
are  the  "  mushrooms  "  which  form  the  principal 
food  of  these  ants,  and  for  whose  successful  cultiva- 
tion they  cut  and  manipulate  the  leaves  used  in 
preparation  of  the  spongy  mushroom- bed.  The 
fungus  was  found  to  be  Rozites  gongylopbora.  If 
the  nest  is  broken  open  and  the  spongy  mass  scat- 
tered, the  ants  show  as  much  solicitude  in  gathering 
up  the  fragments — especially  the  newer  portions — 
as  in  saving  their  grubs. 

In  observation  nests  where  these  ants  were 
supplied  with  Cuphea-leaves  they  were  seen  to 
divide  the  latter  into  minute  fragments,  which 
were  crushed  in  their  jaws  until  not  a  cell  of  the 
leaf  structure  remained  uninjured.  It  was  then 
rolled  into  a  ball  of  pulp,  and  added  to  the  fungus- 
bed.  Cypbomyrmex,  an  allied  genus  of  ant,  is  also 
to  be  included  among  the  fungus  growers ;  likewise 
Afterostigma.  The  latter  lives  in  decaying  wood, 
and  the  triturated  wood-fibres  mixed  with  the 
excrement  of  wood-boring  beetles  are  used  for  the 
composition  of  the  mushroom-bed. 

An  ant  of  Trinidad  (Sericomyrmex  opacus)  has  been 
described  by  Mr.  F.  W.  Urich  as  making  its  nests 
in  clayey  soil,  with  a  cylindrical  shaft  to  the  outer 
world  standing  about  an  inch  above  the  soil.  About 


224   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

six  inches  below  this  opens  into  a  small  chamber 
from  which  other  chambers  open  out.  In  the 
first  they  store  the  materials — leaves,  petals,  etc. — 
of  which  when  properly  treated  they  make  mush- 
room-beds in  the  adjoining  chambers,  which  are 
two  or  three  inches  across. 

Another  class  of  ant  horticulturists  are  the  species 
of  Camponotus  and  Azteca  of  the  Amazon  region, 
which  construct  hanging  gardens  on  trees  and  shrubs. 
These  are  of  special  interest  to  the  botanist  as  well 
as  to  the  entomologist,  for  the  plants  they  grow 
are  distinct  from  any  that  grow  elsewhere.  Either 
they  have  become  altered  by  ant-cultivation  as 
plants  have  become  greatly  modified  in  our  gardens, 
or  they  have  retained  ancestral  forms  whilst  their 
untended  relations  have  become  altered  by  natural 
selection.  Either  way,  the  fact  that  they  do  differ 
is  a  very  interesting  one. 

The  ants  carry  up  particles  of  earth  and  form 
rounded  masses  of  it  on  the  branches.  These 
masses  are  riddled  with  passages  and  chambers, 
which  are  strengthened  by  a  lining  of  paper-like 
material  which  the  ants  manufacture.  When  the 
structure  is  completed  the  ants  sow  its  surface  with 
the  seeds  of  their  special  plants,  brought  pre- 
sumably from  an  older  garden.  As  soon  as  the  seeds 
sprout,  the  young  plants  are  seen  to  be  carefully 
tended  by  the  ants,  which  bring  up  fresh  supplies 
of  soil  to  add  to  the  circumference,  and  in  this 
way  the  garden  grows  in  time  to  a  considerable  size. 
The  growing  plants  surround  them  with  foliage 


HORTICULTURISTS  225 

which  shelters  the  ants'  nest  from  sun  and  rain, 
and  in  due  course  produce  juicy  fruits,  which  are 
gathered  and  eaten  by  the  ants. 

About  fourteen  distinct  species  have  been  identi- 
fied as  constituting  the  flora  of  these  gardens. 
Not  one  of  these  has  been  found  growing  elsewhere, 
and  it  is  very  rarely  that  any  other  plant  but  these 
is  found  in  an  ants'  hanging  garden.  The  plants 
grown  on  the  Camponotus  nests  up  in  the  branches 
are  all  epiphytes — plants  adapted  for  growing  on 
trees  away  from  the  ground.  Aztec  a  makes  its 
gardens  nearer  to  the  ground,  and  the  plants  it 
cultivates — distinct  from  those  of  Camponotus — are 
not  true  epiphytes. 

The  Termites,  too,  who  have  borrowed  so  many 
of  the  habits  of  the  real  Ants,  appear  to  have  taken 
a  lesson  from  them  in  the  matter  of  fungus  cultiva- 
tion. Smeathman  stated  that  some  species  had 
special  chambers  in  their  nests  which  were  devoted 
to  the  growing  of  a  fungus  which  they  used  as 
food ;  but  until  quite  recently  no  confirmation  of 
this  statement  was  forthcoming. 

Now,  however,  Mr.  Haviland  has  found  it  to 
be  true  in  regard  to  several  species.  In  the  case 
of  the  South  African  species,  Termes  angustata,  he 
found  that  the  nursery  cells  were  built  of  a  material 
which  produced  a  fungus — a  kind  of  mould — upon 
which  were  innumerable  white  bodies  (sporangia)  ; 
and  a  similar  condition  was  found  in  some  nests 
explored  at  Singapore. 

In  Natal  he  discovered  a  new  species,  Hodotermes 


226  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

havilandi,  which  he  found  to  be  a  harvester,  and 
there  is  every  probability  that  the  material  harvested 
is  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  fungi.  During  the 
heat  of  the  day  the  workers  issue  from  holes  in  the 
ground,  and  with  their  well- developed  jaws  cut 
the  grass  into  lengths  of  about  two  inches.  These 
pieces  they  carry  to  the  mouths  of  the  holes  and 
often  leave  them  there  until  they  have  cut  sufficient. 
Where  acacia-bushes  are  growing  they  also  gather 
the  leaflets  of  that  plant. 

After  the  heat  of  the  day  has  passed  they  take 

down  the  heaps  that  have  accumulated  around  the 

holes   and  store  the  material  in  chambers  about 

five  feet  below  the  surface.     A  few  chambers  near 

the  surface  may  be  used  temporarily,   but  these 

only  hold  as  much  as  could  be  collected  in  the 

course  of  an  hour  or  two.     Sometimes,  after  taking 

in   all  the   cut   leaves,   they   bring   up   pellets   of 

clay   in  their  jaws  and   stop  the   mouths   of   the 

holes  with  it. 

Fetch  has  found  fungus  chambers  in  the  nests  of 
a  Termite  in  Peradeniya  Botanic  Gardens,  Ceylon, 
and  several  Indian  species  are  among  the  fungus.- 
growers.  In  the  case  of  the  Ceylon  species  Fetch 
says  that  the  spongy  masses  which  constitute  the 
fungus  beds  are  wholly  formed  of  the  excrement 
of  the  workers,  and  that  not  only  are  special  fungi 
cultivated  on  it,  but  that  other  fungi,  not  desired 
by  the  Termites,  grow,  and  are  weeded  out  by  the 
workers ;  when  a  nest  is  abandoned  these  "  weeds  " 
grow  unchecked. 


PLATE  30 


TERMITES'  MUSHROOM  GARDEN. 


Page  226 

The  Termites  or  "  White  Ants  "  set  apart  certain  chambers  of  their  hills  for  the 
cultivation  of  a  kind  of  mushroom,  which  they  utilise  for  food . 

Drawn  by  T.  Carreras* 


PLATE  31 


SEXTONS. 


Page  234 


A  goldfinch  has  fallen  dead,  and  the  burying  beetles,  having  learned  the  fact,  have 

hastened  to  the  spot.     One  is  on  the  body  taking  in  the  bearings  of  the  case,  whilst 

another  (under  the  wing)  has  already  begun  to  dig  the  earth  away. 

Drawn  by  T.  Cart-etas. 


HORTICULTURISTS  227 

Among  our  wood-boring  beetles  we  have  several 
species  of  Tomicus.  Some  allied  species  in  the 
United  States  appear  at  first  sight  to  have  the 
horticultural  habit.  They  live  in  a  common 
burrow,  which  is  not  usual  with  wood-boring 
beetles,  and  on  the  accumulations  of  their  excrement 
peculiar  fungi  grow,  which  the  beetles  feed  upon. 

Hubbard    says    that    some    species    do    actually 
cultivate  these  fungi,  and  make  elaborate  prepara- 
tions of  a  mushroom-bed  to  induce  their  growth. 
If  these  beetles  have  learned  the  trick  from  the 
ants,  they  have  not  learned  it  thoroughly.      The 
ants  keep  the  fungus  under  control  by  leaving  air- 
space around  their  bed,  and  so  restrict  the  increase 
of  the  fungus  within  limits.     In  the  narrow  spaces 
of  beetle-burrows  there  is  not  room  for  this,  so  it 
is  said  that  the  growth  of  the  fungus  is  sometimes 
more  rapid  than  the  eaters  can  keep  pace  with. 
In  consequence,  it  plugs  up  the  exit  of  the  burrow 
so  effectually  that  the  beetles  are  suffocated.     We 
think  that  in  this  case,  though  the  beetles  may 
avail  themselves  of  the  fungus  as  food,  its  presence 
is  merely  adventitious  and  not  the  result  of  anything 
that  can  be  regarded  as  cultivation. 


X 
SANITARY  OFFICERS 


3*9 


X 

SANITARY  OFFICERS 

LONG  before  cities  were  invented,  with  their  ela- 
borate schemes  for  making  life  possible  under 
unnatural  conditions,  Nature  had  her  sanitary 
commission  at  work  to  keep  the  earth  sweet.  It  is 
still  in  existence ;  but  owing  to  most  of  us  having 
lived  under  urban  conditions  all  our  life,  we  fail 
to  recognize  the  officers  as  such  when  we  see  them, 
and  in  most  cases  take  offence  at  their  presence. 
In  the  majority  of  cases  we  have  only  ourselves  to 
thank  for  their  visits,  which  are  due  to  our  having 
some  nuisance  or  other  on  our  premises  or  adjacent 
thereto.  Looked  at  from  Nature's  point  of  view, 
if  we  may  so  express  it,  everything  that  is  dead  is  a 
nuisance  and  a  menace  to  the  living ;  so  it  must 
be  cleared  away  as  soon  as  possible  and  reduced  to 
an  elementary  condition  in  which  it  can  be  used 
over  again  in  the  processes  of  the  universe. 

Yes,  says  the  citizen,  but  we  have  provided  for 
all  that  in  our  splendid  scheme  of  civilization.  We 
have  magnificent  sewerage  on  which  we  have 
spent  millions,  scavengers  and  orderly  brigades 
in  the  streets,  house-to-house  collection  of  refuse, 

23* 


232   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

etc.  True,  but  Nature's  sanitary  commission  would 
reply  that  there  is  still  much  to  be  done.  The 
annoying  fly  would  not  be  about  the  house  were 
there  no  refuse-heaps  near  by  that  its  grubs  are 
striving  to  reduce  in  bulk.  The  "  blue-bottle " 
would  not  trouble  to  enter  but  for  the  dead  animal 
remains  in  the  shape  of  "  joints,"  poultry,  and  fish 
in  our  larder.  Nature's  edict  is  that  all  effete 
matter  must  be  reduced  to  an  inoffensive  condition. 

It  were  idle  to  attempt  an  enumeration  of  the 
insects  that  are  engaged  in  this  work  :  their  name 
is  legion,  and  they  serve  in  various  branches  of  the 
work.  Looking  beyond  the  walls  of  the  cities,  out 
in  the  open  spaces,  not  merely  of  our  own  country, 
but  the  vast  thinly  populated  and  unpopulated 
areas  of  the  world,  we  see  the$e  small  sanitary  officers 
pursuing  their  vocation  and  keeping  the  world 
sweet.  But  for  them  it  would  be  uninhabitable. 
The  dead  trees  and  herbs,  dead  beasts  and  birds, 
the  dung  of  innumerable  animals,  all  would  en- 
cumber the  surface,  and  take  so  long  to  disintegrate 
by  mere  atmospheric  influence  that  the  higher 
forms  of  life  must  soon  cease  to  be. 

But  no  sooner  does  any  of  this  worn-out  material 
fall  than  these  sanitary  officers  and  scavengers 
become  aware  of  the  fact  by  sight,  scent,  or  other 
means,  and  adopt  measures  for  its  removal.  Some 
eat  it  where  they  find  it,  others  bury  it  in  the 
earth  as  a  preliminary  to  being  eaten  by  themselves 
and  their  offspring.  Some  of  these  we  have  already 
dealt  wi.th  under  the  head  of  miners — the  Scarabs 


SANITARY  OFFICERS  233 

and  other  dung-feeding  beetles  that  dig  vertical 
shafts  for  the  disposal  of  such  matter  that  therein 
their  grubs  may  consume  it  in  comfort  and  safety. 
There  are  enormous  numbers  of  different  species  • 
of  beetles  performing  this  service,  our  own  country- 
possessing  about  seventy.  There  is,  however,  no 
great  variety  in  their  habits ;  they  are  consumers 
of  dung  both  as  beetles  and  as  grubs. 

The  Sexton  Beetles  (Necrophorus),  though  a 
much  smaller  group,  are  perhaps  much  better 
known  as  to  their  habits  by  the  general  public, 
owing  to  their  having  been  often  described  since 
Gleditsch  first  made  them  known  in  1752.  If  a 
dead  mole,  bird,  frog,  or  other  small  animal  be 
laid  upon  the  earth,  and  the  spot  marked,  it  will 
be  found  after  two  or  three  days  that  the  body  has 
disappeared.  On  loosening  the  earth,  it  will  be 
found  buried  at  a  depth  of  two  or  three  inches. 
Two  or  three  beetles,  their  rather  broad  backs 
barred  with  black  and  orange  bands,  may  be  seen 
somewhere  on  or  under  the  corpse.  These  are 
the  Sextons  whose  industry  has  interred  the  dead 
body,  their  object  being  the  provision  of  food  for 
their  young.  The  female  lays  her  eggs  upon  the 
body,  and  from  these  hatch  out  tiny  grubs  which 
at  once  fall  to  upon  the  abundant  store  of  food 
provided  for  them,  and  rapidly  consume  it. 

For  the  successful  carrying  out  of  this  operation 
it  is  necessary  that  the  animal  has  fallen  dead  upon 
tolerably  soft  earth.  We  have  seen  a  bird  that 
had  apparently  met  its  death  by  flying  with  great 


234  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

force  against  the  telegraph  wires  and  had  fallen 
dead  upon  the  hard  highway.  A  couple  of  Sexton 
Beetles  were  doing  their  best  to  make  some  impres- 
sion upon  the  road,  but  the  steam-roller  had  done 
its  work  too  effectually.  We  were  unable  to  follow 
what  happened  to  that  bird,  but  in  all  probability 
the  beetles  would  make  an  effort  to  shift  it  off  the 
road  to  the  softer  marginal  land.  Failing  that 
expedient,  they  would  be  likely  to  make  a  good  meal 
and  leave  it  to  chance. 

In  the  case  of  an  insect  that  buries  such  material 
it  is  in  the  ordinary  way  difficult  to  follow  what 
happens.  When  a  thing  disappears  from  the  place 
where  we  left  it  we  are  likely  to  ascribe  its  absence 
to  anything  but  the  actual  cause  ;  and  if  Gleditsch 
had  not  thought  of  making  experiments  under 
somewhat  artificial  conditions  we  might  have 
waited  long  before  learning  the  truth. 

He  placed  a  dead  mole  on  one  of  his  garden  beds, 
where,  of  course,  the  soil  was  sufficiently  loose 
for  these  Sextons  to  work.  On  the  third  morning 
after  so  placing  it  the  mole  had  disappeared. 
Digging  where  it  had  been  laid,  he  came  upon 
it  at  a  depth  of  three  inches,  and  under  it  were 
four  beetles.  He  did  not  attach  great  importance 
to  that  fact,  although  on  examining  the  mole  and 
finding  nothing  singular  in  its  appearance,  he 
thought  perhaps  the  beetles  might  have  been  con- 
cerned in  some  way  in  the  operation.  So  he 
buried  the  carcase  again  in  the  same  grave,  and 
left  it  for  an  interval  of  six  days,  when  he  found  it 


SANITARY  OFFICERS  235 

was  swarming  with  grubs.  These  he  now  thought 
must  be  the  young  of  his  beetles,  and  jumped  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  parents  had  buried  the 
mole  for  the  sustenance  of  their  unborn  progeny. 

The  surmise  must  be  put  to  the  test.  Hunting 
for  some  of  the  beetles,  he  found  four,  and  these 
he  put  into  a  covered  glass  vessel  half  filled  with 
earth,  and  on  the  surface  he  placed  a  couple  of 
dead  frogs.  Before  twelve  hours  had  passed  one 
of  these  frogs  had  been  interred  by  two  of  the 
beetles,  whilst  the  other  two  spent  a  day  in  running 
over  and  about  the  remaining  frog,  as  though  taking 
its  dimensions  and  estimating  how  deep  a  grave 
would  be  required.  But  on  the  third  day  this 
frog  also  had  disappeared.  Then  he  introduced  a 
dead  linnet,  which  was  soon  found  by  a  pair  of 
the  beetles,  and  they  provided  him  with  a  demon- 
stration of  their  skill.  They  got  under  the  bird 
and  began  scraping  away  the  earth,  and  pushing 
it  aside  with  their  hind  legs. 

"  It  was  curious  to  see  the  efforts  which  the 
beetles  made  by  dragging  at  the  feathers  of  the  bird 
from  below  to  pull  it  into  its  grave.  The  male, 
having  driven  the  female  away,  continued  the  work 
alone  for  five  hours.  He  lifted  up  the  bird,  changed 
its  place,  turned  it,  and  arranged  it  in  the  grave, 
and  from  time  to  time  came  out  of  the  hole,  mounted 
upon  it  and  trod  it  under  foot,  and  then  retired 
below  and  pulled  it  down.  At  length,  apparently 
wearied  with  this  uninterrupted  labour,  it  came 
forth  and  leaned  its  head  upon  the  earth  beside 


236   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

the  bird  without  the  smallest  motion,  as  if  to  rest 
itself,  for  a  full  hour,  when  it  again  crept  under 
the  earth.  The  next  day  in  the  morning  the  bird 
was  an  inch  and  a  half  under  ground,  and  the  trench 
remained  open  the  whole  day,  the  corpse  seeming 
as  if  laid  out  upon  a  bier,  surrounded  with  a  rampart 
of  mould.  In  the  evening  it  had  sunk  half  an  inch 
lower,  and  in  another  day  the  work  was  completed 
and  the  bird  covered." 

Gleditsch,  having  got  his  beetles  to  work  in 
captivity,  tested  the  results  he  had  already  obtained 
by  adding  other  small  dead  animals,  until  the 
earth  in  his  glass  vessel  must  have  become  almost 
as  full  of  remains  as  the  soil  in  a  cemetery.  In 
the  course  of  fifty  days  these  four  Sextons  had 
buried  no  fewer  than  twelve  subjects,  including 
four  frogs,  three  birds,  two  fishes,  a  mole,  and  two 
grasshoppers,  as  well  as  the  entrails  of  a  fish  and 
two  pieces  of  ox  lung.  Another  beetle,  unaided, 
in  two  days  buried  a  mole  that  was  forty  times  its 
own  bulk  and  weight.  These  beetles  always  hunt 
in  couples,  but  it  is  the  male  that  performs  the 
chief  part  of  the  digging. 

Beetles  of  allied  genera,  though  they  do  not 
bury,  are  quick  to  note  the  presence  of  dead  animals 
and  lay  their  eggs  in  them  so  that  their  larvae  can 
feed  on  the  flesh  and  rapidly  dispose  of  it.  If  one 
wishes  to  know  the  kinds  of  beetles  that  engage  in 
this  work,  the  shaking  over  a  newspaper  of  any  dead 
bird  or  small  mammal  found  in  the  woods  or  fields 
will  give  him  some  idea  of  the  types. 


SANITARY  OFFICERS  237 

An  umbrella  or  collecting-net  held  beneath  the 
row  of  pigeons,  hawks,  owls,  and  stoats  that  the 
gamekeeper  has  nailed  up  as  a  warning  to  the  others, 
whilst  the  victims  are  tapped  smartly  with  a  stick, 
will  yield  many  specimens.  There  will  be  Carrion 
Beetles  (Silpha),  flat-backed  creatures,  mostly  of  a 
dead-black  hue  ;  Mimic  Beetles  (Hister),  square- 
backed,  highly  polished  insects,  that  at  once  pre- 
tend to  be  dead  ;  Bacon  Beetles  (Dermestes),  very 
convex,  with  a  broad  yellowish-grey  band  across 
the  middle  of  the  black  back ;  and  some  of  the 
larger  of  the  Rove  Beetles  (Stafbylinus),  such  as 
Creopbilus  maxillosus. 

Space  will  not  allow  us  to  give  any  detailed 
description  of  the  numerous  beetles  that  are  engaged 
in  this  sanitary  work,  or  of  the  ways  by  which  they 
carry  it  out.  Some  reference  should  be  made, 
however,  to  one  of  them,  the  Bacon  Beetle  (Dermestes 
lardarius),  because,  as  its  popular  name  implies,  it 
sometimes  comes  very  near  home  to  some  of  us 
in  our  houses,  as  well  as  attacking  the  "  examples  " 
that  swing  from  the  keeper's  gibbet.  It  is,  indeed, 
a  general  feeder  on  dead  animal  matter,  and  does 
not  mind  how  dry  and  old  it  is.  After  the  other 
beetles  and  their  larvae  think  that  they  have  ex- 
tracted all  the  nourishment  from  the  swinging 
carcases,  Dermestes  can  get  meals  for  many  a  day 
from  the  shrivelled  skins  and  the  tough  ligaments 
that  the  others  have  feared  to  spoil  their  jaws  upon. 

Naturalists  sometimes  have  unpleasant  acquaint- 
ance with  this  beetle,  and  find  that  some  choice 


238   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

specimen,  whether  it  be  in  fur  or  feathers,  horns 
or  hoofs,  has  been  providing  nourishment  for 
years  for  this  terrible  insect.  The  marvel  is  that 
it  can  go  on  feeding  upon  such  dry  pabulum  with- 
out ever  an  opportunity  to  imbibe  the  slightest 
drop  of  moisture.  It  will  bore  right  through  a 
flitch  of  bacon  and  give  it  what  country  people 
call  a  "  reasty  "  flavour. 

Westwood  informs  us  that  years  ago  another 
member  of  the  same  genus  (Dermestes  vulpinus) 
inflicted  such  damage  on  skins  in  the  warehouses  of 
London  merchants  that  they  made  a  joint  offer 
of  twenty  thousand  pounds  as  a  reward  for  the 
discovery  of  any  real  method  of  extermination. 
We  believe  the  reward  was  never  claimed.  This 
is p  one  of  the  numerous  cases  where  Civilization 
comes  into  conflict  with  Nature.  Dermestes  has  a 
commission  to  look  especially  after  the  hard  dry 
parts  of  animal  remains  that  have  been  left  uneaten 
by  blow  fly  gentles  and  carrion  beetles.  Here  is  a 
building  full  of  old  skins  discovered  by  the  beetles. 
"  It's  a  big  job,"  muses  the  mother  beetle ;  "  but  it's 
got  to  be  done."  And  she  does  her  best  by  laying 
an  abundance  of  eggs  to  execute  the  commission. 

The  skin-merchant  thinks  Nature  has  no  sense 
to  let  loose  such  rapacious  pests  among  his  goods ; 
but  from  Nature's  point  of  view  the  warehouse  is 
stacked  with  refuse,  which  must  be  disintegrated 
as  quickly  as  possible  and  the  elements  of  which  it 
is  composed  put  into  circulation  again.  From 
Civilization's  point  of  view  Nature's  sanitary  officers 


PLATE  32 


THE  BACON  BEETLE. 


Page  238 


In  its  grub  stage  this  little  beetle  inflicts  great  damage  in  stores  of  ham  and  bacon 

The  grub  is  the  hairy  creature  to  the  right  of  the  picture.     Below  it  is  the  chrysalis^ 

and  above  several  beetles.     All  magnified. 

Drawn  by  T.  Carreras. 


BEE-LIKE  DRONE-FLY. 


PLATE  33 


GIRDLED  DRONE-FLY. 


Page  248 


These  flies,  which  have  a  superficial  resemblance  to   bees  and  wasps,  were  held 

formerly  to  be  parasites  upon  their  hosts  ;   but  they  are  now  known  to  be  beneficent 

scavengers,  helping  to  keep  the  nest  clean. 

Photos  by  Author. 


SANITARY  OFFICERS  239 

are  pests ;  from  Nature's  point  of  view  all  stored-up 
animal  remains,  whether  hams,  skins  or  feathers, 
fresh  joints,  fish  or  poultry,  from  which  life  has 
departed,  are  fair  game  for  beetles,  blow  flies,  and 
other  scavengers.  It  is  useless  to  rail  against 
natural  laws ;  they  have  been  evolved  not  for 
man's  convenience,  but  for  the  proper  governance 
of  the  world  as  a  whole.  We  must  either  submit 
to  them  or  set  our  wits  to  work  to  suspend  their 
operation  so  far  as  our  property  is  concerned. 

The  naturalist  has  a  special  pest  of  the  same 
tribe  of  beetles.  From  Nature's  point  of  view  the 
naturalist  is  a  great  accumulator  of  rubbish,  and 
in  consequence  these  sanitary  officers  keep  a  very 
strict  eye  upon  him.  What  though  he  puts  away 
his  hoards  in  glazed  cases  that  are  guaranteed 
air-tight  by  the  makers,  and  pins  nice  little  blocks 
of  camphor  in  the  corners  ?  The  glass  lids  have 
to  be  lifted  sometimes  to  take  out  or  put  in  "  speci- 
mens," and  now  and  then  a  watchful  inspector 
in  the  shape  of  a  House  Moth  or  a  Museum  Beetle 
contrives  to  drop  in  an  egg  or  two — perhaps  con- 
cealed in  the  fur  of  a  new  specimen — and  when 
the  case  is  inspected  a  few  months  later  the  opera- 
tions of  the  resulting  grub  are  evident. 

This  Museum  Beetle  (Anthrenus  musceorum)  is  one 
of  the  most  efficient  of  these  sweepers-away  of 
dead  matter,  though  not  when  it  is  in  the  beetle 
stage.  Then  it  has  a  fondness  for  the  open  air  and 
:resh  flowers ;  it  is  as  a  grub  that  it  performs  its 
mportant  work. 


24o  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

With  most  insect  larvae  it  is  imperative  that — 
except  when  they  are  in  hibernation — they  should 
have  a  continuous  supply  of  food  ;  but  Antbrenus 
is  lord  of  his  appetite.  If  a  dry  carcase  is  at  hand 
he  can  enjoy  it,  and  if  nothing  eatable  presents 
itself  he  can  wait  with  patience,  adopting  the  equiva- 
lent of  the  hungry  man's  expedient  of  tightening 
his  belt.  Anthrenus  has  no  distinct  belt  to  tighten, 
but  he  throws  off  his  too  roomy  skin  and  pre- 
sumably feels  more  comfortable  in  a  new  and  less 
expanded  one.  Then  he  waits,  and  if  the  prospect 
of  a  meal  is  still  unduly  far  off,  he  moults  again. 

But  for  the  bad  taste  exhibited  by  this  grub  in 
the  selection  of  naturalists'  stores  for  his  dining- 
room,  he  would  probably  be  considered  a  very  in- 
teresting insect ;  but  we  do  not  remember  to  have 
heard  him  spoken  of  with  any  amount  of  admiration 
even  in  the  heart-to-heart  talks  of  entomologists. 

His  upper  side  is  clothed  with  long,  stiff  brown 
hairs  and  the  under  side  with  shorter  and  paler 
hairs.  His  six  long,  jointed  legs  are  fringed  with 
similar  stiff  hairs.  On  each  side  of  three  segments 
of  his  hind  body  he  has  these  hairs  arranged 'in 
bundles,  which  are  normally  laid  against  the  back, 
but  can  be  erected  at  will.  If  you  attempt  to 
pick  up  this  small  grub  with  your  finger  and  thumb 
you  will  find  it  is  an  impossible  feat,  the  hairs 
being  so  arranged  that  it  slips  from  your  grip.  This 
arrangement  probably  facilitates  its  passage  through 
minute  crevices  and  into  the  interior  of  the  carcases 
it  is  destroying. 


SANITARY  OFFICERS  241 

When  at  length,  it  has  found  suitable  fare  it 
proceeds  with  its  meal  leisurely,  as  though  it  held 
that  good  things  are  not  to  be  disposed  of  hurriedly, 
but  in  the  spirit  of  Milton's  "  linked  sweetness  long 
drawn  out."  Anyway,  it  takes  about  a  year  of 
this  discriminate  feeding  to  bring  his  diminutive 
body  to  its  full  size,  and  then  his  skin  splits  down 
the  back,  but  is  not  cast  off :  the  chrysalis  remains 
within  the  larva  skin.  The  beetle  that  emerges  is 
smaller  than  the  grub  ;  and  a  dozen  of  them  placed 
end  to  end  would  only  measure  about  an  inch. 
Strictly  speaking  its  colour  is  black,  but  the  black 
is  masked  by  minute  triangular  scales,  some  brown, 
others  whitish,  the  latter  arranged  in  three  irregular 
bands  across  the  back.  When  it  gets  the  notion 
that  it  is  advisable  "  to  lie  low  "  it  tucks  in  its  head 
and  legs  and  is  to  all  appearance  a  lifeless  particle 
of  refuse. 

The  sanitary  officers  that  are  best  known  to  those 
who  are  not  entomologists  are  the  two-winged 
flies,  especially  those  that  make  frequent  calls  upon 
us  in  our  homes.  But  the  public  as  a  rule  fail  to 
recognize  them  in  the  character  of  officers  for  the 
removal  of  nuisances,  insisting  that  they  are  them- 
selves the  nuisance.  Of  late  years  one  very  pro- 
minent member  of  this  staff  of  sanitary  officials  has 
actually  been  accused — and  with  good  reason — of 
being  actively  engaged  in  the  dissemination  of 
disease  germs. 

This  monster — according  to  recent  views  of  him 
— is  the  ubiquitous  House  Fly  (Musca  domes  tica). 
16 


242   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

The  charge  appears  to  be  well  founded,  but  though 
we  have  no  desire  to  whitewash  him,  it  is  right  that 
some  one  should  act  the  part  of  "  devil's  advocate  " 
and  point  out,  with  a  view  to  mitigation  of  penalties, 
that  his  carrying  of  noxious  germs  is  not  done  "  of 
malice  aforethought,"  and  that  he  would  not  do 
so  if  the  said  germs  were  not  left  carelessly  in  his 
way  to  cling  to  his  feet.  We  play  all  sorts  of  tricks 
with  the  laws  of  Nature,  and  when  trouble  comes 
of  it  we  try  to  set  it  right  in  the  wrong  way.  Here 
are  we  now  founding  Kill-that-Fly  leagues  and 
preaching  crusades  against  the  insect,  when  we 
ought  to  be  clearing  away  the  muck-heaps  near 
our  homes  in  which  the  flies  are  nurtured. 

Nearly  every  man  who  owns  a  bit  of  garden 
ground  is  so  impressed  with  the  necessity  for 
feeding  up  his  plants  with  stable  manure  that  he 
has  a  heap  handy  for  the  purpose,  and  a  smaller 
heap  at  the  roots  of  every  rose-bush.  In  some 
cases  he  has  applied  it  so  continuously  that  the 
surface  soil  of  the  whole  garden  is  largely  composed 
of  it.  Then  the  flies  come  as  Nature's  sanitary 
officers  and  decide  that  it  must  be  reduced  to  an 
inoffensive  condition. 

Every  female  fly  lays  about  a  hundred  and  twenty 
eggs  on  it,  and  these  hatching  in  a  day  or  two, 
the  maggots  set  to  work  with  all  speed  to  reduce 
the  nuisance.  In  less  than  a  week  they  have  done 
what  they  could,  have  become  full-grown,  and  in 
another  week  they  are  flies.  They  lay  their  eggs, 
thus  ensuring  the  continuation  of  the  sanitary 


SANITARY  OFFICERS  243 

work  by  SL  vastly  increased  host  of  workers,  and  then, 
attracted  by  various  odours,  enter  our  dwellings  for 
a  brief  life  of  enjoyment,  partaking  of  infinitesimal 
portions  of  our  food,  licking  up  the  microbes  we 
foster  but  do  not  want,  and  perhaps  coming  to  an 
end  in  the  milk- jug  or  the  jam- dish. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  from  what  has  been  said 
that  the  House  Fly  confines  its  attention  to  the 
heap  of  stable-manure  as  an  egg-laying  ground  and 
nursery  for  its  progeny.  It  feeds  in  any  organic 
waste  that  is  sufficiently  warm  and  moist  to  fer- 
ment, but  mainly  in  horse  manure,  human  manure, 
pig  manure,  spent  hops  and  malt-waste  (brewer's 
grains).  Each  female  fly  lays  several  batches  of  eggs, 
in  all  about  six  hundred,  which  hatch  in  periods 
varying  with  the  conditions  at  the  time— often 
eight  hours,  sometimes  four  days.  The  newly 
hatched  "  maggot  "  at  once  burrows  into  the  mass 
of  refuse,  seeking  the  moister  parts  that  he  may 
feed  upon  the  liquid  portion.  The  most  favourable 
temperature  for  development  appears  to  be  between 
90°  to  98°. 

Dr.  L.  O.  Howard,  who  has  written  a  terrible 
indictment  of  the  House  Fly — which  he  prefers  to 
call  the  Typhoid  Fly — has  made  a  calculation  of 
the  progeny  of  a  single  female  fly  that,  having 
passed  the  winter  in  some  snug  spot,  begins  laying 
eggs  on  April  15.  By  September  10  the  living 
issue  of  that  fly  will  be  5,598,720,000,000  !  Of 
course,  in  fact,  all  the  eggs  laid  do  not  produce 
maggots,  all  the  maggots  hatched  do  not  survive 


244  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

to  become  flies,  all  the  female  flies  do  not  become 
mothers ;  but  to  eliminate  failures  of  this  sort  he 
reckons  that  half  a  generation  consists  of  females 
and  that  each  female  lays  only  120  eggs  instead  of 
her  maximum  600. 

He  shows  that  in  the  United  States,  at  least, 
typhoid,  cholera  infantum,  and  "  summer  com- 
plaint "  are  chiefly  spread  by  these  flies  carrying 
the  germs  from  the  sick  to  the  well.  Most  other 
complaints  that  flesh  is  supposed  to  be  heir  to  are 
greatly  assisted  in  their  spread  by  the  same  agency. 
Several  English  authorities  on  sanitation  have  made 
similar  declarations  as  the  result  of  their  investiga- 
tions. 

Many  of  these  creatures  are  a  sort  of  Jekyll-and- 
Hyde  combination  of  two  personalities,  here,  how- 
ever, marking  two  successive  phases  of  existence. 
The  question  is  which  is  the  greater,  the  harm  or 
the  good  they  do  ?  The  answer  for  the  individual 
may  be  the  harm,  whilst  for  the  race  it  is  probably 
the  good.  Any  way,  the  rational  course  is  to  clear 
away  the  cause,  and  the  effects  must  cease.  The 
stable  is  rapidly  becoming  an  institution  of  the 
past.  Let  the  suburban  gardener  anticipate  the 
early  date  when  it  will  have  ceased  to  be  by  feeding 
his  garden  with  chemical  manures. 

But  one  of  our  House  Flies  (Homalomyia  canicu- 
laris) — a  somewhat  smaller  and  paler  insect'  than 
the  other — feeds  in  its  larval  days  on  decaying 
vegetable  refuse,  so  the  garden  rubbish  should  be 
burnt,  not  stacked.  This  fly  has  more  rounded 


SANITARY  OFFICERS  245 

tips  to  its  wings,  and  on  account  of  its  inferior  size 
is  often  referred  to  as  a  young  House  Fly.  Size  in 
the  case  of  insects  that  have  reached  the  winged 
stage,  it  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  point  out,  is 
no  criterion  of  age.  This  stage  reached,  growth 
almost  invariably  ceases. 

The  food  of  the  Blue-bottle  or  Blow  Fly  (Calli- 
phora  vomitoria)  in  its  grub  stage  is  very  different. 
It  is  a  flesh-feeder,  and  its  proper  mission  in  life  is 
to  clear  away  those  animals  that  have  met  with 
death  from  old  age,  disease,  or  in  an  encounter  with 
an  opponent.  That  mission  is  undoubtedly  an 
important  and  beneficial  one  for  the  human  race, 
but  when  that  race  takes  to  storing  meat,  poultry, 
and  fish  in  its  larders,  and  the  keen  senses  of  the 
Blow  Fly  track  it  to  its  hiding-place,  some  fault  is 
found  with  Nature's  arrangements.  What  seems 
to  be  required  of  Nature  to  meet  the  altered  con- 
ditions brought  about  by  civilization  is  the  evolu- 
tion of  a  race  of  Blow  Flies  that  can  distinguish 
between  what  is  common  and  what  is  property. 
The  vegetarian  comment  upon  this  suggestion 
would  be  that  it  would  be  more  reasonable  to  give 
up  converting  our  larders  into  charnel-houses ! 

The  truth  is,  that  what  we  dub  domestic  pests 
are  part  of  the  price  we  have  got  to  pay  for  our 
domesticity.  All  the  Kill- that- Fly  leagues  can  do 
will  make  no  appreciable  difference  to  the  fly 
nuisance  ;  and  probably  if  we  were  to  pull  down 
our  houses  and  return  to  the  pastoral  life  of  our 
nomad  forefathers  we  should  find  we  had  only 


246  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

got  rid  of  the  attentions  of  one  class  of  pests  to 
fall  under  the  care  of  another  group.  Even  Mrs. 
Troglodyte- Smith  must  have  found  that  there  were 
undesirable  creatures  who  insisted  upon  sharing 
her  cave. 

Some  of  these  sanitary  or  scavenger  flies,  though 
their  habits  in  the  larval  stage  are  similar  to  those 
of  the  Blow  Fly,  rarely  or  never  enter  our  houses, 
and  therefore  do  not  become  a  nuisance  to  us. 
Such  are  the  Green-bottle  (Lucilia  c&sar)  and  the 
Flesh  Fly  (Sarcophaga  carnaria).  The  first  does 
occasionally  wander  into  open  windows  and  doors 
in  the  summer,  but  does  not  stay  in  the  house, 
preferring  to  sit  on  leaves  in  the  hottest  sunshine 
and  exhibit  its  shining  golden-green  livery  to  the 
best  advantage. 

The  Green-bottle  is  the  special  bane  of  the 
fishmonger,  and  if  by  chance  we  pass  by  the  back 
premises  where  this  tradesman  temporarily  stor< 
his  refuse,  we  shall  startle  up  a  cloud  of  these  beauti- 
ful but  repulsive  insects,  who  have  been  engage< 
not  only  in  depositing  eggs  in  the  offal,  but  in 
sucking  up  the  more  fluid  decomposing  portions. 

The  Flesh  Fly  is  similar  to  the  Blow  Fly,  but 
rather  longer  and  of  a  grey-and-black  coloration 
instead  of  the  steely  blue  which  has  given  the  name 
of  Blue-bottle  to  Callipbora  vomitoria.  It  is  a 
carrion  feeder,  but  out-of-doors,  and  it  retains  its 
eggs  until  they  are  hatched,  so  that  on  the  dis- 
covery of  suitable  material  for  their  deposit  the 
work  of  clearing  away  dangerous  matter 


SANITARY  OFFICERS  247 

begins  at  once.  In  this  connection  it  is  worthy 
of  note  that  these  flies  have  had  all  the  details  of 
their  life-history  adapted  to  the  necessities  of  the 
case.  A  heap  of  stable  manure  is  less  inimical  to 
animal  life  than  is  decomposing  flesh,  and  as  in- 
numerable beetles  and  flies  help  to  clear  it  away, 
the  fecundity  of  the  House  Fly  is  not  nearly  so 
high  as  that  of  the  Blue-bottle  and  Flesh  Fly, 
whose  work  must  be  done  much  more  expeditiously. 

We  have  mentioned  that  the  House  Fly  lays 
about  600  eggs ;  the  Blue-bottle  lays  from  500  to 
1,000,  but  dissection  has  shown  that  the  Flesh  Fly  is 
able  to  deposit  as  many  as  20,000  grubs.  Of  course, 
these  are  not  all  deposited  at  once,  or  in  the  same 
mass  of  corruption  :  they  are  laid  in  batches  as 
appears  to  be  necessary.  But  it  frequently  happens 
that  a  number  of  egg-laden  Blue-bottles  or  Flesh 
Flies  will  lay  their  eggs  in  the  same  mass  of  food, 
which  may  not  be  sufficient  to  bring  so  vast  an 
army  of  maggots  to  their  full  size.  In  that  case 
some  would  feed  on  their  weaker  kindred,  so  that 
some  could  come  to  maturity  and  continue  the 
race.  The  dead  matter  would  become  converted 
rapidly  into  living  matter,  and  so  cease  to  pollute 
the  atmosphere  ;  but  the  futility  of  attempting  to 
get  rid  of  the  fly- nuisance  by  killing  a  few  thousand 
flies  here  and  there  is  apparent.  It  is  akin  to 
trying  to  empty  the  ocean  with  a  tea-spoon. 

In  addition  to  these  sanitary  officers  whose  com- 
mission may  be  said  to  be  rather  general — to  clear 
away  nuisances  of  a  certain  kind  wherever  they 


248   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

may  be  found — there  are  other  flies  whose  functions 
are  more  narrowly  defined — what  one  might  term 
sanitary  specialists.  Such  are  the  Bee  Flies  (Volu- 
celld)  which  were  long  thought  to  be  parasites 
on  bees  and  wasps,  because  their  larvae  and  pupae 
were  often  found  in  the  nests  of  Humble  Bees 
and  wasps  underground.  Instead  of  parasites  they 
are  commensals — companions  who  give  as  well  as 
receive.  They  are  not  of  the  highest  order  of 
commensals,  those  that  are  cherished  by  their 
hosts  ;  these  appear  to  be  only  tolerated,  as  though 
the  nest-owners  have  only  a  dim  perception  of  the 
importance  of  the  duties  Volucella  performs. 

In  exploring  wasps'  nests  at  the  end  of  the 
season  when  the  colony  has  practically  come  to  an 
end,  we  have  found  a  great  number  of  Volucella 
larvae  crawling  about  the  combs  and  thrusting  their 
narrow  heads  into  the  depths  of  the  cells.  When 
a  wasp-grub  comes  to  the  winged  condition  and 
quits  the  cell  it  leaves  behind  at  the  bottom  (top 
as  the  wasp  sees  it,  for  the  cells  are  all  inverted)  a 
thick  black  cake  composed  of  the  grub's  excrement 
and  cast  skins.  It  is  doubtful  if  a  wasp  could 
clean  this  out  to  make  the  cell  fit  to  receive  an 
egg  and  to  cradle  another  grub  :  the  wasp's  head 
is  too  broad  to  reach  the  bottom. 

This  is  where  the  services  of  the  Volucella  grub 
come  in.  Its  body,  though  broad  behind,  narrows 
to  the  front,  and  -the  head  is  quite  small.  He 
reaches  to  the  end  of  the  cell  and  feeds  on  its 
objectionable  contents,  making  it  fit  for  another 


SANITARY  OFFICERS  249 

occupant.  Examination  of  the  combs  shows  a 
large  number  of  grubs  of  all  sizes  engaged  in  this 
work.  These  remarks  apply  to  Volucella  fellucens, 
which  we  have  found  so  engaged  in  the  underground 
nests  of  Fes  fa  germanica,  a  common  wasp.  Other 
species  are  attached  to  other  species  of  wasps  and 
to  distinct  species  of  Humble  Bees. 

The  best-known  species  of  Volucella  is  V.  bomby- 
lans,  whose  hairy  body  has  a  general  resemblance 
to  a  Humble  Bee,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  in  early  life  it  lives  in  the  nests  of  various 
species  of  Humble  Bees.  In  former  days,  not 
long  ago — when  these  flies  were  regarded  as  para- 
sites— -the  resemblance  to  a  Humble  Bee  was  held 
to  have  been  acquired  specially  to  enable  it  to 
enter  the  bee's  nest  to  lay  eggs  without  its  real 
character  being  suspected  ;  but,  seeing  that  Volu- 
cella fellucens  does  not  resemble  a  wasp  in  the 
remotest  manner,  this  theory  will  not  hold  good, 
for  this  species  should  stand  more  in  need  of  such 
protection  than  V.  bombylans,  because  the  wasps 
prey  very  largely  upon  the  two-winged  flies,  whilst 
Humble  Bees  are  not  insectivorous  at  all. 

However,  mimetic  resemblance  does  not  come 
within  the  scope  of  our  present  inquiry.  The 
grubs  of  V.  bombylans  clean  out  the  vacated  cocoons 
of  the  Humble  Bees  and  make  them  available  for 
the  storage  of  pollen  ;  they  also  eat  up  the  debris 
that  collects  under  and  around  the  irregular  comb, 
and  so  help  to  keep  the  nest  sweet. 


XI 
MUSICIANS 


XI 
MUSICIANS 

OF  a  few  Insect  Musicians  it  may  be  said  that 
their  power  of  producing  sounds  has  been  notorious 
ever  since  the  beginning  of  time.  Some  have 
regarded  these  sounds  as  music,  others  as  a  wearying 
noise,  and  they  will  continue  probably  to  be  so 
diversely  regarded  according  to  the  temperament 
or  the  condition  of  health  of  the  hearer.  The 
writer,  being  a  person  of  mild  disposition  and 
optimistic  tendency,  has  boldly  classed  them  all 
as  Music,  and  in  so  doing  feels  that  he  has  the 
great  body  of  the  poets  with  him. 

The  poets — and  others — it  must  be  admitted 
have  made  mistakes  about  this  music.  Some  have 
thought  the  insects  had  real  vocal  apparatus,  others 
that  the  sounds  were  produced  solely  by  rapid 
wing  vibration.  But,  as  one  would  expect  to  find 
among  creatures  of  such  varied  organization,  a 
similar  end  is  reached  by  different  means.  Some 
have  a  real  vocal  apparatus,  though  not  connected 
with  the  mouth  ;  but  in  most  cases  it  is  more  akin 
to  the  action  of  lyre  and  plectrum. 

The  list  of  Insect  Musicians  is  far  too  long  to  be 


254  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

dealt  with  in  detail :  we  can  only  pick  out,  almost 
at  random,  a  few  representative  species  and  describe, 
not  too  minutely,  the  nature  of  their  sounds  and 
how  these  are  produced.  The  species  most  cele- 
brated for  its  song  from  antiquity  is  the  Cicada, 
concerning  which  the  Greek  poet,  Xenarchus,  wrote 
the  ungallant  couplet  that  has  been  quoted  almost 
ad  nauseam,  possibly  ever  since  it  was  written  : 

"  Happy  the  Cicadas'  lives, 
For  they  all  have  voiceless  wives." 

The  Cicada  stands  apart  from  all  other  insects, 
indeed  from  all  other  animals,  in  the  character  of 
its  voice-box.  It  is  not  here  a  case  of  scraping  one 
file  on  another,  or  a  file  on  a  drum.  There  is  a 
special  cavity  in  the  thorax,  divided  into  chambers 
by  membranes  of  different  character,  and  a  specially 
delicate  drum  or  tymbal  which  is  set  vibrating  by 
the  insect  to  produce  the  initial  sound.  These 
vibrations  are  caught  up  and  intensified  by  the 
other  membranes  and  the  two  opercula  or  shields 
which  cover  the  entire  apparatus  on  the  under- 
surface  of  the  insect. 

Landois  was  of  opinion  that  the  sound  was  pro- 
duced by  the  lips  of  the  spiracles  or  external  open- 
ings of  the  air-passages,  vibrating  as  a  current  of 
air  was  forced  through  them  by  the  air-tubes. 
More  recently,  Powell  showed  that,  though  the 
spiracles  may  influence  the  volume  of  sound  by 
regulating  the  tension  of  the  air  in  the  chambers, 
the  vibrations  are  those  of  the  tymbal,  set  in  motion 


MUSICIANS  255 

by  a  special  muscle.  These  vibrations  can  be 
watched  in  the  living  insect  when  it  is  singing. 

The  present  writer  is  indebted  to  the  Rev.  R. 
Wyllie,  for  further  light  upon  the  method  by  which 
the  vocal  apparatus  is  set  vibrating.  This  gentle- 
man spent  twenty  years  in  Guiana  and  set  himself 
to  elucidate  the  matter.  He  says  : — 

"  The  insect  is  called  the  '  Six  o'clock,'  because 
it  is  always  heard  about  the  time  of  sunset,  which 
occurs  about  six  o'clock  all  the  year  round.  In 
Trinidad,  I  believe,  it  is  called  the '  Scissor  Grinder,' 
because  its  noise  resembles  that  made  by  a  few 
score  scissor  grinders  concentrated  in  one  loud 
effort.  The  insect  may  be  heard  at  other  times, 
especially  at  sunrise  and  noon ;  but  not  so  per- 
sistently. 

"  In  answer  to  my  enquiries,  I  could  find  no  one 
to  tell  me  how  the  great  noise  was  produced  by 
so  small  a  creature.  For  years  my  curiosity  on  the 
subject  was  unsatisfied.  ;  although  I  persevered 
in  both  enquiries  and  observations.  Two  things 
I  had  noted  :  first,  that  the  long  shrill  note,  lasting 
about  twenty  to  thirty  seconds,  was  preceded  by 
three  or  four  short  jerky  ones ;  and,  second,  that 
the  distance  and  direction  were  not  easily  judged. 
A  cicada  might  seem  to  be  uttering  its  call  at  a 
distance  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  feet  away,  on  the 
right,  and  suddenly  the  little  creature  would  stop, 
and  fly  away  from  a  position  within  arm's  length, 
on  the  left. 

"And  then,  one  evening  as  I  was  standing   still, 


256   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

watching  something  else,  my  attention  was  arrested 
by  the  short  quick  notes  of  a  cicada  within  a  few 
inches  of  my  eyes.  To  my  delight  I  saw  the  insect 
distending  its  abdomen  with  each  short  note. 
Then  as  it  produced  the  long  note  I  saw  the  abdomen 
gradually  contract,  as  if  the  air  that  had  been 
pumped  in  was  being  expelled  with  great  muscular 
force.  Just  before  the  long  note  was  finished,  I 
was  fortunate  enough  to  catch  the  little  fellow  in 
my  hand ;  and  then  to  my  further  delight  and 
surprise,  I  found  that  by  gently  pressing  the  thorax, 
I  could  secure  an  encore  at  will.  This  lasted  nearly 
all  the  time  I  was  walking  home ;  and  I  was  able 
to  watch  the  distention  and  contraction  of  the 
abdomen  for  nearly  half  an  hour — long  after  the 
other  cicadas  had  ceased  their  song  for  the  evening. 
"  The  conclusion  I  reached,  in  conjunction  with 
what  I  have  read  on  the  subject,  was  that  the  cicada 
is  able  to  fill  the  abdominal  space  with  compressed 
air,  and  then  force  this  air  through  the  tympanum. 
(Note  the  accordion-like  structure  of  the  abdomen) 
...  I  had  few  other  opportunities  for  watching 
the  cicadas  quite  as  good  as  this  first  one,  but 
whenever  I  had  the  opportunity  I  was  convinced 
of  the  correctness  of  my  observations  on  that 


occasion." 


Respecting  the  silence  of  the  females,  which 
attracted  the  attention  of  Xenarchus,  it  is  not  due 
to  want  of  the  apparatus,  but  to  the  fact  that  it  is 
not  fully  developed. 

Hartman  speaks  of  the  music  as  the  "  marital 


PLATE  34 


THE  CICADA'S  MUSIC-BOX. 


Page  256 


A  Cicada  seen  from  below.     The  arrow  points  to  the  position  of  a  pair  of  convex 

shields,  beneath  which  are  the  complicated  timbals  and  membranes  which  produce 

the  shrill  sounds. 

Photo  by  Author. 


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MUSICIANS  257 

summons  from  the  males."  Fabre  ridicules  this 
notion.  He  says  where  males  and  females  feed 
together  on  the  same  twigs  there  is  no  need  for 
shrill  calls  to  inform  the  latter  where  she  will  find 
the  former.  This  is  how  he  puts  it,  after  describing 
the  common  Cigale  of  Provence  ranged  in  rows  on 
the  branches  of  the  trees,  the  two  sexes  mingled 
and  only  a  few  inches  apart.  "  One  does  not  spend 
months  in  calling  a  person  who  is  at  one's  elbow. 
Moreover,  I  have  never  seen  a  female  rush  into  the 
midst  of  even  the  most  deafening  orchestra.  Sight 
is  a  sufficient  prelude  to  marriage,  for  their  sight  is 
excellent.  There  is  no  need  for  the  lover  to  make 
an  everlasting  declaration,  for  his  mistress  is  his 
next-door  neighbour.  Is  the  song  a  means  of 
charming,  of  touching  the  hard  of  heart  ?  I 
doubt  it.  I  observe  no  sign  of  satisfaction  in  the 
females ;  I  have  never  seen  them  tremble  or  sway 
upon  their  feet,  though  their  lovers  have  clashed 
their  cymbals  with  the  most  deafening  vigour." 

Darwin  says  that  when  the  Beagle  was  anchored 
at  the  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  shores 
of  Brazil,  "  the  noise  thus  made  could  be  plainly 
leard  on  board,"  and  Captain  Hancock  stated  that 
it  could  be  heard  at  the  distance  of  a  mile.  It  will 
noted  that  Darwin  does  not  allude  to  it  as  a 
musical  sound,  but  a  noise,  and  this  is  perhaps 
justified  by  a  remark  of  Bates,  who  was  probably 
referring  to  the  same  species,  for  he  was  in  the 
same  region. 

Describing  the  "  terrible  discord  "  of  mingled 


258   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

noises  set  up  at  sunset  by  birds  and  monkeys,  the 
latter  naturalist  says :  "  Added  to  these  noises 
were  the  songs  of  strange  Cicadas,  one  large  kind 
perched  high  on  the  trees  around  our  little  haven, 
setting  up  a  most  piercing  chirp  ;  it  began  with 
the  usual  harsh  jarring  tone  of  its  tribe,  but  this 
gradually  and  rapidly  became  shriller,  until  it 
ended  in  a  long  and  loud  note  resembling  the 
steam-whistle  of  a  locomotive  engine.  Half  a  dozen 
of  these  wonderful  performers  made  a  considerable 
item  in  the  evening  concert.  I  had  heard  the  same 
species  before  at  Para,  but  it  was  there  very  un- 


common." 


Concerning  the  American  species  known  as  the 
Seventeen-year  Locust  (Cicada  se^temde  cirri) ,  there 
is  an  extraordinary  feature  in  its  life-history  which, 
though  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  its  character  as  a 
musician,  we  feel  justified  in  mentioning.  It  is 
widely  spread  over  the  greater  part  of  the  United 
States,  but  in  any  given  locality  it  only  makes  its 
appearance  in  considerable  numbers  once  in  seven- 
teen years.  Kalm  was  the  first  to  call  attention 
to  this  fact,  but  his  statement  appears  at  first  to 
have  been  regarded  with  doubt ;  subsequent 
investigations,  however,  established  the  fact,  and 
reasons  were  sought  for  the  periodicity. 

It  is  now  shown  that  the  insect  takes  nearly 
seventeen  years — in  some  States,  when  the  seasons 
are  more  uniforpily  favourable,  thirteen  years — in 
its  progress  from  the  egg  to  the  acquisition  of 
expanded  wings.  During  this  long  period,  which 


MUSICIANS  259 

entitles  this  Cicada  to  be  considered  the  Methusaleh 
of  insect-life,  it  is  underground  sucking  at  roots, 
and  is  unseen.  The  eggs  are  laid  in  slits  made  by 
the  females  in  the  stems  of  shrubs,  and  the  newly 
hatched  grub  burrows  into  the  ground. 

Owing  to  the  rapid  changes  that  take  place  in 
the  United  States,  places  that  were  woods  or  open 
prairies  when  the  Cicada's  eggs  were  laid  are 
flourishing  cities  before  the  seventeen-year  cycle  is 
complete,  and  some  of  the  poor  Cicadas  have  been 
known  to  emerge  into  cellars  instead  of  the  open  air  ; 
whilst  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  many  never  emerge 
at  all  because  the  place  of  their  interment  has 
been  sealed  by  laying  concrete  floors. 

Reverting  to  the  musical  abilities  of  these  insects, 
it  should  be  pointed  out  that  there  is  considerable 
difference  apparently  in  the  character  of  the 
sounds  produced  by  American  Cicadas  and  those 
of  Europe.  Concerning  the  latter,  the  ancient 
Greeks  kept  them  in  cages  for  the  sake  of  their 
songs,  and  Kirby  and  Spence  have  a  paragraph 
which  is  worth  quoting  in  this  connection.  Cicadas, 
they  declare — 

"  Seem  to  have  been  the  favourites  of  every 
Grecian  bard  from  Homer  and  Hesiod  to  Anacreon 
and  Theocritus.  Supposed  to  be  perfectly  harm- 
less, and  to  live  only  upon  the  dew,  they  were 
addressed  by  the  most  endearing  epithets,  and  were 
regarded  as  all  but  divine.  One  bard  entreats  the 
shepherds  to  spare  the  innoxious  Tettix,  that 
nightingale  of  the  Nymphs,  and  to  make  those 


260  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

mischievous  birds  the  thrush  and  blackbird  their 
prey.  *  Sweet  prophet  of  the  summer,'  says  Ana- 
creon,  addressing  this  insect,  '  the  Muses  love  thee, 
Phoebus  himself  loves  thee,  and  has  given  thee 
a  shrill  song ;  old  age  does  not  wear  thee  out ; 
thou  art  wise,  "earth-born,  musical,  impassive, 
without  blood ;  thou  art  almost  like  a  god.' 

"  So  attached  were  the  Athenians  to  these 
insects,  that  they  were  accustomed  to  fasten  golden 
images  of  them  in  their  hair,  implying  at  the  same 
time  a  boast  that  they  themselves,  as  well  as  the 
Cicadas,  were  *Ierra  filii.  They  were  regarded 
indeed  by  all  as  the  happiest  as  well  as  the  most 
innocent  of  animals.  .  .  . 

"  If  the  Grecian  lettix  or  Cicada  had  been 
distinguished  by  a  harsh  and  deafening  note,  like 
those  of  some  other  countries,  it  would  hardly 
have  been  an  object  of  such  affection.  That  it 
was  not  is  clearly  proved  by  the  connection  which 
was  supposed  to  exist  between  it  and  music.  Thus 
the  sound  of  this  insect  and  of  the  harp  were  called 
by  one  and  the  same  name.  A  Cicada  sitting  upon 
a  harp  was  a  usual  emblem  of  the  science  of  music, 
which  was  thus  accounted  for  :  When  two  rival 
musicians,  Eunomus  and  Ariston,  were  contending 
upon  that  instrument,  a  Cicada  flying  to  the 
former  and  sitting  upon  his  harp  supplied  the 
place  of  a  broken  string,  and  so  secured  to  him  the 
victory. 

"  To  excel  this  animal  in  singing  seems  to  have 
been  the  highest  commendation  of  a  singer ;    an< 


MUSICIANS  261 

even  the  eloquence  of  Plato  was  not  thought  to 
suffer  by  a  comparison  with  it.  At  Surinam  the 
noise  of  the  Cicada  tibicen  is  still  supposed  so  much 
to  resemble  the  sound  of  a  harp  or  lyre,  that  they 
are  called  there  harpers  (Lierman).  Whether  the 
Grecian  Cicadae  maintain  their  ancient  character 
for  music,  travellers  do  not  tell  us." 

The  Romans  appear  to  have  differed  from  the 
Greeks  in  their  appreciation  of  this  music,  for 
Virgil  in  his  Georgics  accuses  his  native  Cicadas 
of  bursting  the  very  shrubs  with  their  noise,  and 
he  is  supported  by  the  comparatively  modern 
Sir  J.  E.  Smith,  who  says  it  "  makes  a  most  disagree- 
able dull  chirping."  Dr.  Shaw,  again,  alluding  to 
the  Seventeen-year  Cicada,  says : 

"  In  the  hotter  months  of  summer,  especially 
from  midday  to  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  the 
Cicada,  Tettix,  or  grasshopper,  as  we  falsely  trans- 
late it,  is  perpetually  stunning  our  ears  with  its 
most  excessively  shrill  and  ungrateful  noise.  It  is 
in  this  respect  the  most  troublesome  and  impertinent 
of  insects,  perching  upon  a  twig  and  squalling  some- 
times two  or  three  hours  without  ceasing  ;  thereby 
too  often  disturbing  the  studies,  or  short  repose 
that  is  frequently  indulged  in  in  these  hot  climates, 
at  those  hours.  The  Tettix  of  the  Greeks  must 
have  had  quite  a  different  voice,  more  soft, 
surely,  and  melodious ;  otherwise  the  fine 
orators  of  Homer,  who  are  compared  to  it,  can 
be  looked  upon  as  no  better  than  loud,  loquacious 
scolds." 


262   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

In  our  own  day  C.  V.  Riley,  the  late  State 
Entomologist,  thus  refers  to  the  Seventeen-year 
Cicada  :  "  The  general  noise,  on  approaching  the 
infested  woods,  is  a  combination  of  that  of  a  distant 
threshing-machine  and  a  distant  frog-pond.  That 
which  they  make  when  disturbed  mimics  a  nest 
of  young  snakes  or  young  birds  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances— a  sort  of  scream.  They  can  also 
produce  a  chirp  somewhat  like  that  of  a  cricket  and 
a  very  loud,  shrill  screech  prolonged  for  fifteen  or 
twenty  seconds,  and  gradually  increasing  in  force 
and  then  decreasing." 

The  order  of  insects  (Orthoptera)  which,  next 
to  the  Cicada,  has  been  most  celebrated  for  the 
production  of  sounds  contains  the  Crickets  and 
Grasshoppers ;  and  these  produce  their  shrill  cries 
in  quite  another  manner,  the  instrument  being 
more  akin  to  the  fiddle  and  bow.  Yet  even  here 
there  is  a  great  amount  of  variation  in  the  method 
of  employing  the  same  principle.  In  the  three 
families,  Gryllidse  (Crickets),  Locus  tidae  (not 
Locusts),  and  Acridiidse  (Grasshoppers  and  Locusts), 
differences  of  structure  necessitate  differences  in  the 
fiddles  and  bows. 

The  song  of  the  House  Cricket  (Gryllus  domesticus) 
is  produced  by  the  wing-covers  (tegmina)  of  the 
male  insect.  On  the  under  side  is  a  file,  and  as  the 
pair  are  vibrated  the  edge  of  one  scrapes  the  file 
on  the  other  and  produces  the  shrill  "  crink-crink." 
Bates  speaks  of  a  species  of  Wood  Cricket  he  calls 
GUoroccelus  tanand  (more  correctly  found  to  be 


MUSICIANS  263 

Tbliboscelus  camellifolius),  he  met  with  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Obydos,  Brazil.  He  says : 

"  The  notes  are  certainly  the  loudest  and  most 
extraordinary  that  I  ever  heard  produced  by  an 
orthopterous  insect.  The  natives  call  it  the  Tanand, 
in  allusion  to  its  music,  which  is  a  sharp,  resonant 
stridulation  resembling  the  syllables  "ta-na-n£,  ta- 
na-n4,"  succeeding  each  other  with  little  inter- 
mission. It  seems  to  be  rare  in  the  neighbourhood. 
When  the  natives  capture  one,  they  keep  it  in  a 
wicker-work  cage  for  the  sake  of  hearing  it  sing. 
A  friend  of  mine  kept  one  six  days.  It  was  lively 
only  for  two  or  three,  and  then  its  loud  note  could 
be  heard  from  one  end  of  the  village  to  the  other." 

It  is  not  a  true  Cricket  in  spite  of  its  name,  but 
a  member  of  the  Locustidae,  which  are  intermediate 
between  the  Crickets  and  the  Grasshoppers. 

"  The  total  length  of  the  body  is  two  inches  and 
a  quarter  ;  when  the  wings  are  closed,  the  insect 
has  an  inflated  vesicular  or  bladder-like  shape, 
owing  to  the  great  convexity  of  the  thin,  but  firm, 
parchmenty  wing-cases,  and  the  colour  is  wholly 
pale  green. 

c  The  instrument  by  which  the  Tanand  produces 
its  music  is  curiously  contrived  out  of  the  ordinary 
nervures  of  the  wing-cases.  In  each  wing-case  the 
inner  edge,  near  its  origin,  has  a  horny  expansion  or 
lobe ;  on  one  wing  this  lobe  has  sharp  raised  mar- 
gins ;  on  the  other  the  strong  nervure  which 
traverses  the  lobe  on  the  other  side  is  crossed  by  a 
number  of  fine  sharp  furrows  like  those  of  a  file 


264   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

When  the  insect  rapidly  moves  its  wings  the  file 
of  the  one  lobe  is  scraped  sharply  across  the  horny 
margin  of  the  other,  thus  producing  the  sounds ; 
the  parchmenty  wing-cases  and  the  hollow  drum- 
like  space  which  they  enclose  assisting  to  give 
resonance  to  the  tones. 

"  The  projecting  portions  of  both  wing-cases 
are  traversed  by  a  similar  strong  nervure,  but  this 
is  scored  like  a  file  only  in  one  of  them,  in  the  other 
remaining  perfectly  smooth.  Other  species  of  the 
family  to  which  the  Tanana  belongs  have  similar 
stridulating  organs,  but  in  none  are  these  so  highly 
developed  as  in  this  insect ;  they  exist  always 
in  the  males  only,  the  other  sex  having  the  edges 
of  the  wing-cases  quite  straight  and  simple." 

He  proceeds  to  give  a  brief  description  of  the 
variations  in  this  apparatus  in  the  other  families, 
which  is  so  terse  that  it  is  worth  quoting  further : 

"  In  the  common  Field  Cricket  of  Europe  the 
male  has  been  observed  to  place  itself,  in  the  even- 
ing, at  the  entrance  of  its  burrow,  and  stridulate 
until  a  female  approaches,  when  the  louder  notes  are 
succeeded  by  a  more  subdued  tone,  whilst  the  suc- 
cessful musician  caresses  with  his  antennae  the  mate 
he  has  won.  Any  one,  who  will  take  the  trouble, 
may  observe  a  similar  proceeding  in  the  common 
House  Cricket. 

"  The  nature  and  object  of  this  insect  music 
are  more  uniform  than  the  structure  and  situation 
of  the  instrument  by  which  it  is  produced.  This 
differs  in  each  of  the  three  allied  families  above 


MUSICIANS  265 

mentioned.  In  the  Crickets  the  wing-cases  are 
symmetrical ;  both  have  straight  edges  and  sharply 
scored  nervures  adapted  to  produce  the  stridula- 
tion.  A  distinct  portion  of  their  edges  is  not, 
therefore,  set  apart  for  the  elaboration  of  a  sound- 
producing  instrument.  In  this  family  the  wing- 
cases  lie  flat  on  the  back  of  the  insect,  and  overlap 
each  other  for  a  considerable  portion  of  their 
extent. 

"  In  the  Locustidae  the  same  members  have  a 
sloping  position  on  each  side  of  the  body,  and  do 
not  overlap,  except  to  a  small  extent  near  their 
bases ;  it  is  out  of  this  small  portion  that  the 
stridulating  organ  is  contrived.  Greater  resonance 
is  given  in  most  species  by  a  thin  transparent  plate, 
covered  by  a  membrane,  in  the  centre  of  the  over- 
lapping lobes. 

"In  the  Grasshoppers  (Acridiidae)  the  wings  meet 
in  a  straight  suture,  and  the  friction  of  portions 
of  their  edges  is  no  longer  possible.  But  Nature 
exhibits  the  same  fertility  of  resource  here  as  else- 
where ;  and  in  contriving  other  methods  of  supply- 
ing the  males  with  an  instrument  for  the  production 
of  call-notes  indicates  the  great  importance  she 
attaches  to  this  function.  The  music  in  the  males 
of  the  Acridiidae  is  produced  by  the  scraping  of  the 
long  thighs  against  the  horny  nervures  of  the 
outer  edges  of  the  wing-cases ;  a  drum- shaped 
organ  placed  in  a  cavity  near  the  insertion  of  the 
thighs  [of  the  hind  legs]  being  adapted  to  give 
resonance  to  the  tones." 


266  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

The  fact  that  these  musical  sounds  are  produced 
only  by  the  males  in  most  of  the  Orthoptera  as  in 
the  Cicadas  will  prepare  the  reader  for  the  further 
statement  that  they  are  used  in  the  courtship  of 
the  insect,  the  whereabouts  of  the  male  being  thus 
advertised  to  the  female  as  in  the  case  of  the  Field 
Cricket  mentioned  by  Bates.  There  is  reason  to 
believe  that  some  species  which  appear  to  be  with- 
out musical  calls  of  this  character  really  have  them, 
though  the  notes  they  produce  are  not  audible  to 
the  human  ear.  The  reason  for  this  supposition 
lies  in  the  fact  that  such  apparently  dumb  species 
are  provided,  like  the  obviously  musical  ones, 
with  ears,  situated  in  their  hind  bodies  in  this 
family. 

Every  field  naturalist  must  know  from  his  own 
observation  that  there  are  people,  apparently  with 
normal  powers  of  hearing,  to  whom  the  fiddling  of 
a  field  full  of  grasshoppers  makes  no  impression 
upon  their  auditory  organs ;  and  it  is  therefore 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  there  may  be  sounds 
produced  by  insects  that  are  not  audible  by  the 
most  highly  developed  of  human  ears.  The  pos- 
session of  ears  by  an  apparently  dumb  species  is 
good  presumptive  evidence  that  that  species  must 
itself  produce  sounds.  It  should  be  noted,  too, 
that  each  species  has  its  own  particular  notes,  to 
which,  no  doubt,  its  ears  are  specially  attuned. 

On  this  point  Scudder,  speaking  of  North 
American  grasshoppers,  says :  "The  uniformity  with 
which  each  species  of  Stenobotbrus  plays  its  own 


MUSICIANS  267 

song  is  quite  remarkable.  One  kind,  Stenobothrus 
curtipennis,  produces  about  six  notes  per  second, 
and  continues  them  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  and 
a  half  seconds ;  another,  S.  melanopleurus,  makes 
from  nine  to  twelve  notes  in  about  three  seconds. 
In  both  cases  the  notes  follow  each  other  uniformly, 
and  are  slower  in  the  shade  than  in  the  sun." 

These,  as  in  all  the  Grasshoppers  (Acridiidse), 
produce  their  sounds  by  scraping  the  hind  leg 
over  the  projecting  nervures  of  the  wing-covers. 
Harris,  another  American  naturalist,  told  us  long 
ago  how  this  is  accomplished  :  the  male,  he  says, 
"  bends  the  shank  of  the  hind  leg  beneath  the  thigh, 
where  it  is  lodged  in  a  furrow  designed  to  receive 
it,  and  then  draws  the  leg  briskly  up  and  down. 
He  does  not  play  both  fiddles  together,  but  altern- 
ately, first  upon  one  and  then  on  the  other." 

In  the  South  African  species  of  this  .family — 
Pneumora  scutellaris — there  is  an  extraordinary 
development  of  the  hind  body  of  the  male,  and  the 
wing-covers  are  not  used  in  sound-production. 
The  hind  body  is  inflated  with  air  so  as  to  become 
a  great  pellucid  bladder,  in  order  to  increase  the 
resonance  of  the  sounds  the  insect  makes  by  scraping 
the  comparatively  small  hind  legs  over  a  series  of 
ridges  which  are  placed  on  each  side  of  the  inflated 
abdomen.  At  night  these  insects  make  a  wonderful 
noise,  according  to  Mr.  Trimen. 

Another  extraordinary  example  from  South  Africa 
is  Methone  anderssoni,  which  is  wingless  in  both 
sexes,  and  does  not  use  its  leaping  legs  for  leaping. 


268   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

The  thighs  are  greatly  expanded,  and  on  their 
inner  face,  near  to  the  base,  three  are  peg-like 
projections.  Although  there  are  no  wings,  there 
are  incipient  wing-covers,  and  these  in  the  male 
are  strongly  grooved  and  ridged,  whilst  below  them, 
on  the  first  segment  of  the  hind  body  and  partly 
overlapping  the  second,  there  is  a  swollen  plate 
with  two  or  three  strong  and  hard  folds.  Just 
behind  it,  on  the  second  segment,  is  a  prominent 
area  whose  surface  is  marked  by  very  fine  raised 
lines.  Both  sexes  have  these  arrangements,  but 
in  the  male  they  are  more  highly  developed  than 
in  the  female.  The  thigh  is  rubbed  over  these 
sculptured  plates,  and  the  action  results  in  a  loud 
note.  It  is  believed  that  the  male  can  produce 
two  distinct  notes,  one  agreeing  with  that  of  the 
female,  and  one  peculiar  to  its  own  sex. 

It  is  a  very  sedentary  creature,  and  its  colouring 
makes  it  appear  like  a  clod  of  earth.  When  molested 
it  does  not  rely  upon  its  feeble  powers  of  loco- 
motion for  escape,  but  upon  its  capacity  for  making 
a  noise  which  will  alarm  its  enemy. 

The  long-horned  Green  Grasshoppers  of  the 
family  Locustidae — which,  it  must  be  again  pointed 
out,  contains  no  Locusts — produce  their  music 
by  means  of  the  wing-covers  alone;  and  as  these 
only  slightly  overlap  at  their  bases,  the  production 
of  a  considerable  volume  of  sound  seems  at  first 
sight  not  very  probable.  Yet  any  one  who  has 
heard  one  of  these  insects  giving  expression  to  its 
joy,  as  we  may  fairly  consider  it,  must  admit  that 


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MUSICIANS  269 

the  volume  of  sound  proceeding  from  so  small  a 
creature  is  marvellous. 

We  have  kept  our  native  Green  Grasshopper 
(Locusta  viridissima)  as  a  pet,  feeding  it  upon 
flies,  and  in  the  evenings  it  sang  with  notes  that 
resounded  through  the  house.  In  this  family  the 
ears  are  placed  in  the  front  legs,  a  little  below 
the  knee. 

De  Geer  pointed  out  long  ago  that  an  eye-like 
spot  in  the  right  wing-cover  of  the  male  was  pro- 
bably connected  with  the  powerful  note  of  this 
species.  This  area  consists  of  transparent  mem- 
brane "  resembling  a  little  mirror  or  piece  of 
talc,  of  the  tension  of  a  drum.  This  membrane 
is  surrounded  by  a  strong  and  prominent  nervure, 
and  is  concealed  under  the  fold  of  the  left  elytrum, 
which  has  also  several  prominent  nervures  answering 
to  the  margin  of  the  membrane.  There  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  the  brisk  movement  with 
which  the  grasshopper  rubs  these  nervures  against 
each  other  produces  a  vibration  in  the  membrane 
augmenting  the  sound.  The  males  in  question  sing 
continually  in  the  hedges  and  trees  during  the 
months  of  July  and  August,  especially  towards 
sunset  and  part  of  the  night.  When  any  one 
approaches  they  immediately  cease  their  song." 

It  is  to  this  family  of  long-horned  grasshoppers 
that  the  famous  American  Katydids  belong.  We 
use  the  plural  form,  because  there  are  several 
different  species,  and  they  do  not  all  belong  to  the 
same  genus.  They  agree  in  uttering  sounds  that 


270  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

resemble  the  words  "Katy  did,"  with  variations. 
Riley  says  that  the  first  notes  of  Microcentrum 
retinerve  are  heard  about  the  middle  of  July,  and 
by  the  first  of  August  the  insect  is  in  full  song. 
He  describes  the  production  of  the  notes  as  follows  : 

"  The  wing-covers  are  partially  opened  by  a 
sudden  jerk  and  the  notes  produced  by  the  gradual 
closing  of  the  same.  The  song  consists  of  a  series 
of  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  raspings  as  of  a  stiff 
quill  drawn  across  a  coarse  file.  There  are  about 
five  of  these  raspings  or  trills  per  second,  all  alike, 
and  with  equal  intervals,  except  the  last  two  or 
three,  which,  with  the  closing  of  the  wing-covers, 
run  into  each  other.  The  whole  strongly  recalls 
the  slow  turning  of  a  child's  wooden  rattle,  ending 
by  a  sudden  jerk  of  the  same  ;  and  this  prolonged 
rattling,  which  is  peculiar  to  the  male,  is  invariably 
and  instantly  answered  by  a  single  sharp  '  chirp  ' 
or  *  tschick '  from  one  or  more  females,  who 
produce  the  sound  by  a  sudden  upward  jerk  of  the 
wings." 

Scudder  says  they  have  two  songs ;  one  they  sing 
by  day,  and  the  other  at  night.  He  says  that  the 
passing  of  a  cloud  will  cause  them  to  break  off  in 
the  middle  of  the  day-song  and  suddenly  start  the 
night-song,  and  that  by  imitating  either  by  day 
you  can  get  a  suitable  response  from  them,  but  at 
night  they  have  only  one  song. 

Harris  says  of  another  species,  Cyrtophyttvs  con- 
cavus,  that  it  mounts  to  the  topmost  twigs  of  the 
trees  in  the  evening,  beginning  "  his  noisy  babble, 


MUSICIANS  271 

while  rival  notes  issue  from  the  neighbouring  trees, 
and  the  groves  resound  with  the  call  of  Katy-did- 
she-did  the  livelong  night." 

We  have  already  mentioned  that  the  too  familiar 
House  Cricket  (Gryllus  domesticus)  has,  in  the  male, 
a  musical  file  on  the  under  side  of  each  wing-cover ; 
and  this  is  a  character  that  will  be  found  throughout 
the  family  Gryllidae,  to  which  it  belongs.  In  the 
Mole  Cricket  (Gryllotatya  vulgaris)  the  musical 
organs  are  smaller  and  simpler  than  those  of  the 
House  Cricket,  and  the  note  produced  by  them  is 
a  dull  jarring  note  which  has  been  compared  to 
that  of  the  Nightjar. 

Kirby  and  Spence  say  that  they  once  traced  a 
Mole  Cricket  to  its  burrow  by  means  of  its  song. 
This  is  a  hint  to  those  who  live  in  neighbourhoods 
where  it  abounds,  and  who  would  like  to  make 
acquaintance  with  this  remarkable  insect.  In  the 
case  of  the  other  musical  Orthoptera,  we  have  always 
experienced  a  difficulty  in  following  up  a  clue  of 
this  sort,  as,  to  our  ears,  the  notes  often  appear 
to  have  a  ventriloquial  quality  which  confuses  one 
respecting  the  spot  from  which  it  arises. 

Of  the  Field  Cricket  (Gryllus  campestris)  our  old 
friend  Gilbert  White  tells  us  that  "  they  chirp  all 
night  as  well  as  day  from  the  middle  of  the  month 
of  May  to  the  middle  of  July  ;  and  in  hot  weather, 
when  they  are  most  vigorous,  they  make  the  hills 
echo,  and  in  the  stiller  hours  of  darkness  may  be 
heard  to  a  considerable  distance.  In  the  beginning 
of  the  season  their  notes  are  more  faint  and  inward  ; 


272   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

but  become  louder  as  the  summer  advances,  and  so 
die  away  again  by  degrees." 

What  has  been  stated  above  must  serve  to  illus- 
trate the  musical  powers  of  the  Orthoptera,  which 
are  the  leading  songsters  of  the  Insect  World.  Let 
us  glance  at  another  order  whose  music  has  more 
of  the  character  of  that  produced  by  the  drone  of 
the  bag-pipes  or  by  certain  pipes  of  the  organ. 
The  music  of  the  bees — particularly  of  the  Humble 
Bees — has  been  understood  generally  to  be  due  to 
the  rapid  vibration  of  the  wings.  On  the  other 
hand  it  has  been  contended  that  the  sound  is  due 
to  the  rush  of  air  from  the  air-pipes  (tracked) 
through  the  spiracles  or  breathing-holes  that  are 
found  at  intervals  along  each  side  of  the 
body. 

There  have  been  advocates  and  opponents  of 
each  view,  but,  as  often  happens  in  other  fields  of 
inquiry,  the  true  explanation  seems  to  lie  between 
the  two.  The  spiracles  of  the  thorax  (the  fore 
body  to  which  the  legs  and  wings  are  attached) 
open  into  an  enlarged  chamber,  which  is  a  dilation 
of  the  air-pipe,  and  in  which  certain  hard  bodies 
are  vibrated  which  produce  the  sound  ;  the  vibration 
of  the  wings  increases  it. 

If  one  lifts  the  mossy  dome -from  a  surface  nest 
of  Humble  Bees  in  order  to  see  what  is  going  on. 
several  of  the  bees  will  throw  themselves  on  their 
backs  in  order  to  be  in  a  good  position  to  use  their 
stings  on  the  intruder.  In  such  a  position  there  is 
not  much  beating  of  the  air  by  the  wings,  but 


MUSICIANS  273 

the  bee  gives  expression  to  her  resentment  by  a 
continuous  angry  hum.  Burmeister,  not  content 
with  obtaining  information  in  this  way,  cut  off  the 
wings  of  bees,  and  found  that  they  still  hummed ; 
on  the  other  hand,  when  he  closed  the  openings 
to  the  thoracic  sounding-box  the  hum  became  so 
feeble  as  to  be  scarcely  perceptible.  John  Hunter 
found  that  when  he  held  a  bee  under  water  the 
latter  vibrated  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of 
these  openings. 

The  "  buzz  "  of  the  Blue-bottle  and  other  two- 
winged  flies  is  of  the  same  character.  Although 
this  sound-box  is  in  communication  with  the 
breathing  apparatus,  it  does  not  appear  that  the 
sounds  are  produced  by  the  passage  of  air,  but  by 
means  of  muscular  movements  of  the  hard  matters 
in  the  sound-box. 

Perez  and  Bellesme  have  distinguished  two 
separate  sounds  in  the  hum  of  a  bee — a  deep  note 
due  to  the  vibration  of  the  wings,  and  a  more 
acute  sound  proceeding  from  the  vibration  of  the 
walls  of  the  thorax.  We  have  thus  an  explanation 
of  how  insects  can  hum  when  their  wings  are  at 
rest — as  in  an  observation  by  the  Rev.  J.  Hellins 
on  the  large  yellow-banded  fly  Sericomyia  borealis, 
which  he  found  at  rest  among  the  tors  of  Dartmoor. 
He  says :  "  Before  long  a  piping  sound  was  audible, 
and  one  of  the  party  said  the  wind  was  whistling  ; 
but  to  this  explanation  I  demurred,  having  some 
recollection  of  having  heard  the  noise  before ;  so, 
looking  round,  I  soon  saw  several  large  flies  resting 
18 


274  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

on  the  stones,  and  was  presently  able  to  convince 
my  friend  that  the  sound  came  from  them." 

Many  insects  make  minor  sounds,  perceptible 
only  to  their  own  kind  or  to  observers  who  come 
into  pretty  close  touch  with  them.  Such  is  the 
stridulating  of  ants,  which  is  effected  by  the  seg- 
ments connecting  the  thorax  and  the  hind  body. 
Many  of  the  beetles  also  stridulate,  but  they  do 
not  produce  notes  comparable  in  volume  with 
those  of  the  Cicadas  and  the  Grasshoppers.  The 
apparatus  varies  a  good  deal. 

The  large  tropical  beetles  known  as  Passalids, 
though  they  are  without  such  apparatus  in  the 
perfect  state,  possess  it  as  larvae.  The  basal  joint 
of  the  second  pair  of  legs  bears  a  broad  file-like 
area,  and  the  third  pair  of  legs  is  much  reduced  in 
size  and  paw-like,  with  hard  finger-like  points 
which  scrape  the  file  and  so  produce  sounds.  The 
use  of  this  power  to  the  insect  is  unknown.  The 
most  probable  explanation  we  can  suggest  is,  that 
as  the  larvas  feed  in  decaying  wood,  the  sounds  may 
be  useful  in  enabling  them  to  avoid  cutting  across 
each  other  in  their  boring  operations.  The  grub 
of  our  Stag  Beetle  (Lucanus  cervus),  also  a  wood- 
feeder,  has  a  similar  arrangement. 

Several  other  of  our  native  beetles  have  stridu- 
lating organs,  among  them  Trox  sabulosus,  one  of 
the  carrion-chafers.  On  the  upper  side  of  the 
last  ring  but  one  of  the  hind  body  there  are  two 
raised  lines,  and  on  the  under  side  of  the  wing- 
covers  there  are  two  file-like  ribs.  By  movements 


MUSICIANS  275 

of  the  hind  body  these  are  made  to  play  over  each 
other,  and  the  result  is  a  mouse-like  squeak  which 
might  cause  an  astonished  bird  to  drop  it  in  alarm. 
.  The  Dung  Beetles  (Geotrupes)  effect  a  similar  note 
by  rubbing  a  file  that  is  on  the  base  of  the  hind 
legs  over  a  ridge  on  the  lower  side  of  the  hind  body  ; 
and  the  larva  has  a  contrivance  similar  to  that 
described  in  the  Stag  Beetle,  etc. 

In  the  Burying  Beetles  (Necropborus)  there  are  a 
couple  of  parallel  rasps  on  the  upper  surface  of  the 
hind  body,  and  these  are  scraped  by  the  hind 
margin  of  the  wing-covers.  Pelobius  tardus,  one 
of  our  water  beetles,  is  known  to  dealers  in  aquarium 
stock  as  the  Squeaker,  on  account  of  the  noise  it 
makes  by  scraping  the  horny  tip  of  the  hind  body 
across  a  file  along  the  inner  margin  of  the  wing- 
covers.  Dr.  Russel  Wallace  informed  Darwin  that 
Euchirus  longimanus  "  makes,  whilst  moving,  a  low 
hissing  sound  by  rubbing  its  hind  legs  against  the 
edges  of  the  elytra  "  (wing-covers). 

The  Asparagus  Beetle  (Crioceris  asparagi),  and 
Clythra  quadripuncta,  whose  grub  has  been  referred 
to  as  a  Tailor,  are  among  the  beetles  that  stridulate  ; 
so  are  many  of  the  long-horned  wood-boring 
beetles,  which  emit  sound  by  rubbing  the  first 
segment  of  the  thorax  against  a  special  area  on  the 
next  segment ;  others  rub  the  thigh  of  the  hind 
legs  against  the  edge  of  the  wing-covers. 

Butterflies  and  moths  do  not  shine  as  Musicians. 
They  are  mute  insects ;  but  at  least  one — the 
Death's-head  Hawk  Moth  (Acberontia  atropos)  emits 


276  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

a  loud,  plaintive  squeak,  which  has  probably  added 
considerably  to  the  awe  which  its  large  size  and 
grim  ornamentation  have  inspired  in  nervous 
persons.  Various  theories  have  been  propounded 
in  explanation  of  this  power  ;  but  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  Rossi's  statement  is  the  correct 
one — that  it  is  due  to  air  being  forced  through  the 
short  proboscis  from  special  air-sacs,  which  may 
be  found  by  dissection  of  the  moth.  Similar 
sounds  are  produced  by  the  caterpillar  and  chrysalis. 
A  South  American  butterfly,  Ageronia  feronia, 
makes  a  peculiar  clicking  noise,  "  similar  to  that 
produced  by  a  toothed  wheel  passing  under  a  spring 
catch,"  as  Darwin  described  it  in  his  Voyage  of  the 
"  Beagle"  The  Green  Silver-lines  (Hylopbila  prasi- 
nana),  of  our  own  country,  is  also  said  to  produce 
"  a  sharp  quick  noise."  Dr.  Sharp  says  that  "  sound 
production  seems  to  be  of  more  frequent  occurrence 
in  Arctiidae  than  it  is  in  any  other  family  of  Lepi- 
doptera ;  Dionychopus  niveus  produces  a  sound  by, 
it  is  believed,  friction  of  the  wings.  In  the  case 
of  the  genera  Setina  and  Chelonia  the  process  is 
said  to  be  peculiar  to  the  male  sex  :  Laboulbene 
believes  it  to  proceed  from  drum-like  vesicles 
situate  one  on  each  side  of  the  base  of  the  meta- 
thorax." 


XII 
BURGLARS 


277 


XII 
BURGLARS 

IT  may  be  objected  possibly  that  the  calling  of  a 
burglar  scarcely  entitles  him  to  rank  among  arti- 
zans,  but  a  popular  dictionary,  to  which  we  have  just 
referred  to  justify  us  if  possible,  defines  "  artizan  " 
as  one  skilled  in  any  art,  mystery,  or  trade,  and 
surely  there  is  both  art  and  mystery  about  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  human  burglar,  and  the  Insect 
Burglar  does  not  fall  short  of  her  human  prototype 
in  these  respects.  We  have  used  the  feminine 
gender,  because,  as  in  so  much  that  we  have  had 
to  tell,  it  is  the  female  insect  that  does  all  the  clever 
work.  The  male  insect,  apart  from  his  often 
finer  appearance,  is  a  poor  creature. 

Just  as  the  human  burglar  is  a  product  of  civiliza- 
tion, so,  too,  the  Insect  Burglar  is  mainly  to  be 
found  in  what  is  considered  the  most  highly  evolved 
order  of  the  Insects— the  Hymenoptera,  the  order 
that  includes  the  Ants,  the  Wasps,  and  the  Bees. 
Strictly  speaking,  however,  these  dishonest  insects 
should  be  classed  as  Housebreakers  rather  than 
Burglars,  because  they  are  daylight  operators ;  but 
in  non-legal  modern  parlance  the  term  "house- 

279 


280   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

breaker  "  has  become  almost  restricted  to  those  who 
demolish  effete  buildings,  so  that  the  word  chosen 
will  scarcely  mislead  any  one. 

In  our  chapters  on  Masons  and  Miners  we  have 
dealt  with  the  clever  work  accomplished  by  a 
number  of  insects  in  the  hope  that  their  progeny 
might  develop  in  peace  behind  the  strong  out- 
works they  have  laboured  to  prepare,  and  enjoy 
the  abundant  food  they  have  provided.  But  in 
numbers  of  cases  the  operations  of  the  mother 
insect  have  been  watched,  and  at  the  right  moment 
the  criminal  watcher  has  popped  in  and  laid  her 
own  egg  before  the  cell  has  been  sealed  up.  It  is 
as  well  that  the  industrious  bee  or  wasp  knows 
nothing  of  what  has  happened,  for  in  the  result 
much  of  her  patient  labour  has  been  thrown  away, 
for  no  good  to  her  own  species  can  come  of  it — 
only  benefit  to  the  enemy  of  her  race. 

There  are  numbers  of  the  criminal  classes  of 
insects  who  secure  the  success  of  their  progeny  by 
planting  their  eggs  in  the  bodies  of  other  insects, 
and  these  foster-parents  are  destroyed  by  the  grub 
of  the  parasite.  With  these,  at  present,  we  have 
no  concern,  and  must  restrict  our  attention  to 
those  that  actually  break  into  the  nests  of  honest 
and  industrious  labourers. 

In  summer  time  we  may  often  see  sitting  upon 
a  wall  or  a  leaf  in  full  sunshine  a  little  "  fly  "  of 
very  brilliant  appearance,  its  hind  body  especially 
being  highly  polished,  of  a  ruby  tint,  with  a  metallic 
shine  that  makes  it  look  like  a  little  ball  of  fire. 


BURGLARS  281 

It  is  one  of  the  Ruby-tail  Wasps,  andfprobably  the 
species  distinguished  as  Chrysis  ignita.  Although 
it  appears  to  have  nothing  to  occupy  its  mind,  and 
is  apparently  spending  its  winged  existence  in  an 
easy-going  manner,  it  is  probably  on  the  watch. 
Possibly  you  have  not  noticed  that  on  the  wall,  not 
far  from  the  position  the  Ruby-tail  Wasp  has  taken 
up,  a  Mason  Wasp  (Odynerus  parietum)  has  half 
finished  the  construction  of  her  nest. 

As  we  have  shown  in  an  earlier  chapter  (see 
page  77),  the  Mason  Wasp  provisions  her  cells  with 
little  caterpillars,  and  when  the  cell  is  nearly  full 
the  Ruby-tail  watches  the  Mason  go  off  for,  per- 
haps, the  last  caterpillar.  Into  the  cell  she  then 
drops  one  of  her  own  eggs,  and  the  Mason  return- 
ing, seals  up  the  cell.  What  happens  ?  Dr. 
Chapman  watched  this  performance,  and  two  days 
after  the  cell  had  been  closed  he  opened  it.  The 
Chrysis  egg  had  hatched  and  the  grub  that  had 
issued  from  it  was  already  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
long ;  but  there  was  no  sign  of  the  Mason  Wasp's 
egg  or  grub.  The  presumption  is  that  the  Chrysis 
grub  had  eaten  it.  Thereafter  the  latter  feasted 
on  the  caterpillars  that  had  been  stored  for  the 
sustenance  of  the  Mason's  offspring.  In  six  days 
all  were  eaten,  and  the  Chrysis  grub,  after  moulting 
three  or  four  times,  had  reached  its  full  size ;  so  it 
spun  a  cocoon  and  became  a  chrysalis. 

According  to  other  observers  it  is  usual  for  the 
Ruby  Wasp  grub  to  wait  until  the  Mason's  grub 
has  grown,  and  to  feed  upon  that  without  touching 


282   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

the  store  of  caterpillars.  But  there  are  various 
species  of  Ruby  Wasp,  and  they  are  known  to  differ 
somewhat  in  their  habits.  Chrysis  bidentata,  for 
example,  looks  out  for  a  nest  of  the  turret-building 
Mason  Wasp  (Oaynerus  spinipes),  and  if  it  can  find 
a  chink  in  the  masonry  that  closes  the  mouth  of 
the  tunnel  it  gets  its  eggs  inside.  It  was  mainly 
with  the  idea  of  keeping  off  this  foe  that  the  Mason 
Wasp  built  the  tower  we  have  previously  described 
(page  71),  from  which  she  obtained  the  materials 
to  close  the  mouth  of  her  nest. 

The  remarkable  point  is  that  the  Ruby  Wasp  is 
said  by  some  strange  sense  to  ascertain  at  what 
stage  the  Mason's  grub  has  arrived.  She  desires  a 
grub  that  has  reached  full  size  and  has  spun  its 
cocoon.  Having  satisfied  herself  that  she  has  got 
an  unseen  victim  in  that  condition,  she  deposits 
several  eggs,  though  only  one  hatches.  Here  again 
there  is  a  mystery.  Why  should  six  or  ten  eggs 
be  laid  and  only  one  hatch  ?  Yet  it  is  said  to  be 
so,  and  that  the  Cbrysis  grub  attaches  itself  to  the 
skin  of  the  Mason  grub  and  sucks  at  it  for  about 
eleven  days.  By  that  time  it  is  an  empty  skin, 
and  the  Chrysis  grub  having  reached  its  full  size 
spins  its  own  cocoon  inside  that  of  its  victim  and 
remains  there  till  the  following  spring.  Then  it 
becomes  a  chrysalis,  and  about  three  weeks  later 
it  comes  forth  as  a  brilliant  Ruby  Wasp  to  victimize 
some  other  Mason — that  is,  if  it  be  a  female. 

Eembex  ro strata  is  a  solitary  wasp  that,  instead 
of  filling  up  its  cells  with  sufficient  food  tQ  last  tbe 


BURGLARS  283 

grub  to  full  growth,  deposits  a  single  gad-fly  with 
her  egg.  This  necessitates  her  return  after  a  few 
days  with  fresh  supplies,  and  a  relation  of  the 
Ruby  Wasp,  named  Parnopes  came  a  ^  having  learned 
all  about  the  habits  of  Bembex,  waits  for  this  re- 
opening of  the  nest  and  slips  in  to  deposit  an  egg 
of  her  own.  The  Parnopes  grub  feeds  on  the 
Bembex  grub,  and  the  mother  Bembex  continues 
to  bring  freshly  killed  flies  at  the  proper  intervals 
and  never  appears  to  suspect  that  she  is  nourishing 
the  murderer  of  her  own  offspring. 

The  experiences  of  the  Mason  Wasp  are  paralleled 
by  those  of  the  Mason  Bee  (Chalicodoma  muraria). 
This  bee,  as  we  have  seen  (page  67)  constructs  its 
cells  of  hard  cement,  in  a  cluster,  and  fills  up  the 
spaces  between  and  evens  up  the  exterior  by 
more  masonry.  About  the  beginning  of  August 
when  the  Mason  Bee's  grubs  should  be  ful1  -grown 
and  about  to  turn  into  pupae,  a  Chalcid  (Leucospis 
gigas),  got  up  with  bands  of  black  and  yellow  to 
look  like  a  wasp,  comes  along  and  makes  a  careful 
survey  of  the  mass  of  masonry.  There  is  absolutely 
no  indication  from  without  where  the  cells  are 
situated  within,  and  how  the  Leucospis  locates  their 
position  is  a  great  mystery — but  she  does  it. 

From  the  end  of  her  hind  body  there  is  a  long 
boring  apparatus  and  egg-placer  combined.  This 
when  not  in  use  is  kept  in  ?  groove  along  the  back  ; 
but  now  that  she  has  satisfied  herself  as  to  the 
position  of  the  bee's  cells,  its  position  is  reversed, 
and  it  is  gradually  thrust  through  the  strong 


284  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

masonry.  The  time  required  for  this  operation 
depends  upon  the  thickness  of  the  masonry  at  the 
spot  selected.  It  may  be  accomplished  in  a  quarter 
of  an  hour ;  it  may  take  three  hours !  Fabre  has 
watched  this  burglar  at  her  work,  and  marked  her 
incision  of  the  masonry  and  put  the  date  against 
it.  On  opening  the  nests  later  he  has  found  that 
she  has  invariably  hit  upon  the  right  spot  and  has 
penetrated  to  a  cell. 

But  although  she  has  this  marvellous  sense,  a  sort 
of  second-sight,  that  enables  her  to  see,  as  it  were, 
what  lies  on  the  other  side  of  the  masonry,  it  is 
disappointing  to  find  that  in  one  respect  her  sense 
is  defective.  It  cannot  tell  her  that  in  some  of 
the  cells  her  intended  prey  has  already  perished 
and  its  food-supply  dried  up  or  gone  mouldy.  Nor 
does  it  protect  her  from  making  the  mistake  of 
piercing  a  cell  that  has  already  been  penetrated, 
once,  twice,  or  thrice,  either  by  herself  or  another 
of  her  kind.  Perhaps  it  is  a  necessity  of  the  case, 
in  order  that  some  Chalicodoma  grubs  should 
survive  and  come  to  the  winged  state.  For  it 
must  be  explained  that  if  a  Leucospis  egg  hatches 
and  brings  forth  a  grub,  that  grub  sucks  the  right- 
ful occupant  of  the  cell  and  leaves  only  an  empty 
shrivelled  skin. 

In  those  cases  where  several  Leucosfis  eggs  have 
been  placed  in  one  cell,  it  is  the  care  of  the  first- 
hatched  grub  to  search  for  the  other  eggs  and 
destroy  them,  for  a  Chalicodoma  grub  only  serves 
for  the  nourishment  of  one  Leucosfis. 


BURGLARS  285 

There  are  a  number  of  parasitical  insects  of  this 
order  known  as  Ichneumon  Wasps,  which  deposit 
their  eggs  in  or  on  the  caterpillars  of  butterflies  and 
moths.  These  we  take  no  notice  of  at  present, 
because  they  are  not  burglars.  Some,  however,  are 
entitled  to  be  so  called,  because  the  female  with 
her  long  egg-placer  pierces  the  walls  of  a  tough 
cocoon  and  lays  its  egg  in  the  contained  chrysalis. 
Some  of  these  appear  to  be  as  gifted  as  Leucospis 
in  finding  the  exact  location  of  their  hidden  victim. 
Thus,  Ratzeburg  saw  a  species  of  Pimpla  piercing 
a  leaf  with  its  ovipositor.  This  looked  at  first 
sight  as  though  Pimpla  had  changed  its  habits  and 
was  laying  eggs  in  vegetable  instead  of  animal 
substances ;  but  on  looking  beneath  the  leaf 
a  cocoon  of  the  Lackey  Moth  was  seen  to  be  attached 
to  the  under  side,  and  though  Pimpla  could  not 
see  this  she  knew  by  some  other  sense  just  where 
to  strike.  A  similar  sense  is  possessed  by  other 
Ichneumon  Wasps  that  bore  through  solid  wood 
in  order  to  deposit  their  eggs  in  wood-boring 
caterpillars. 

Under  the  head  of  Carpenters  we  have  mentioned 
(page  123)  how  the  grub  of  the  Horn-tail  Wasp 
(Sirex)  feeds  in  the  solid  wood  of  pine-trees.  Rhyssa 
persuasoria  is  a  large  Ichneumon  Wasp  whose  grub 
lives  at  the  expense  of  the  Sirex  grub,  and  to  reach 
the  latter  in  its  retreat  the  mother  Rhyssa  is  pro- 
vided with  a  delicate  boring  apparatus  that  is  three 
or  four  inches  in  length. 

There  are  two  remarkable  things  to  be  pointed 


286  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

out  in  this  connection.  The  first  is  the  possibility 
of  so  fine  an  instrument  being  capable  of  piercing 
solid  wood ;  the  second  is  the  exactitude  with 
which  the  boring  is  made  so  that  an  egg  can  be 
placed  right  in  the  tunnel  of  the  Sirex.  Unless 
this  could  be  accomplished  all  the  labour  of  boring 
would  be  in  vain.  Unless  the  Rhyssa  grub  on 
hatching  is  in  a  position  to  get  quickly  to  its  prey 
it  must  perish.  It  may  happen  that  whilst  the 
Rhyssa  is  feeding  upon  its  victim  the  Sirex  grub 
burrows  deeply  into  the  wood ;  but  having  passed 
through  the  intervening  stages  to  the  winged 
condition  it  is  then  able  to  excavate  a  direct  way 
out  to  the  air  by  means  of  its  jaws. 

It  is  somewhat  sad  to  relate  that  some  species 
of  the  honourable  family  of  bees  have  fallen  into 
evil  courses  and  are  now  to  be  reckoned  permanently 
among  the  insect  criminal  class.  The  bees  of  the 
genus  Osmia  are  industrious  little  insects  that 
construct  their  cells  in  blackberry-stems,  empty 
snail-shells,  and  similar  retreats.  Osmia  leucomelana 
when  busy  burrowing  the  blackberry-stem  is 
watched  by  another  bee,  Stelis  minuta ;  and  wheri 
Osmia  is  piling  up  her  provisions  Stelis  slips  in 
and  deposits  an  egg  long  before  the  heap  is  com- 
plete. Osmia's  own  egg  is  not  laid  until  the  cell 
is  fully  provisioned  and  ready  for  sealing  up  ;  so 
that  the  Stelis  egg  hatches  first,  and  the  two  grubs 
(Stelis  and  Osmia)  are  at  opposite  ends  of  the 
pollen-mass.  Ultimately,  when  the  pollen  is  con- 
sumed they  meet,  and  Stelis,  having  always  the 


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PLATE  39          THE  OIL-BEETLE  AND  THE  SITARIS. 


Page  296 


Above  the  newly  hatched  grubs  of  the  Oil-beetle  are  waiting  on  the  flower  for  a  bee 
to  convey  them  to  its  nest.  Just  below  it  a  grub  is  in  the  bee's  cell,  clinging  to  an  egg 
floating  on  honey.  In  another  cell  the  chrysalis  is  awaiting  its  final  change.  The 
lower  half  of  the  picture  shows  similar  stages  in  the  history  of  the  Sitaris-beetle. 

Drawn   Iv  T.   Carr;ras. 


BURGLARS  287 

advantage  of  age  and  bulk,  overpowers  Osmia  and 
eats  him. 

The  Nomad  Bees  (Nomada)  in  a  similar  way 
enter  the  earth-burrows  of  Andrena  (page  21),  and 
deposit  there  eggs  in  her  uncompleted  cells,  with 
a  similar  result ;  and  Melecta  plays  much  the  same 
part  in  the  burrows  of  Anthophora. 

The  Mason  Bee  (Chalicodoma),  previously  referred 
to,  has  a  hard  struggle  to  maintain  its  existence, 
for  no  fewer  than  sixteen  different  species  of  burglars 
have  been  found  in  its  cells,  including  Leucos-pis. 
A  few  of  these,  it  is  suspected,  may  turn  out  to  be 
detectives  on  the  track  of  the  burglars,  but  when 
allowance  has  been  made  for  that  probability  the 
effect  of  the  industry  of  the  others  in  checking  the 
reproduction  of  the  hard-working  Mason  are 
appalling. 

Fabre  broke  up  one  of  the  masses  of  masonry 
which  comprised  nine  cells,  and  found  only  one 
that  had  not  been  criminally  entered  by  an  enemy. 
In  these  eight  cells  the  proper  occupant  had  either 
been  eaten  by  the  burglar  or  had  been  starved  to 
death  owing  to  the  interloper  having  consumed  its 
stores  of  food.  Three  had  fallen  victims  to  the 
grub  of  a  two-winged  fly  (Anthrax  tr  if  as  data),  the 
others  to  enemies  of  its  own  class,  including  Leu- 
cospis  (two),  Stelis  (two),  and  Dioxys  (one). 

The  latter  Chalcid  has  been  noticed  flying  around 
and  making  observations  during  the  building  opera- 
tions ;  and  it  is  believed  that  when  the  Mason  has 
gone  off  for  a  further  supply  of  pollen,  Dioxys  has 


288   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

deposited  an  egg  in  the  pollen-mass.  This  egg 
hatching  soon  after  the  cell  has  been  sealed  up, 
the  Dioxys  larva  has  avoided  further  trouble  by 
eating  the  Mason's  egg  and  then  consuming  the 
provisions.  High  as  is  the  percentage  of  destruction 
in  the  case  cited,  it  is  not  the  worst,  for  Fabre  says 
he  has  frequently  examined  nests  without  finding  a 
single  cell  that  had  not  been  attacked  by  one  or 
other  of  these  parasites. 

Colletes  is  a  small  hairy  bee,  in  general  appear- 
ance somewhat  like  the  Honey  Bee.  It  burrows 
into  hard  sandy  banks,  and  in  the  burrows  constructs 
its  cells.  There  is  a  small  group  of  other  bees 
named  Efeolus  which  exist  solely  at  the  expense 
of  Colletes,  and  they  have  adopted  a  rather  "  cute  " 
way  of  locating  their  victim's  nest  without  the 
fag  of  searching  for  it.  Epeolus  variegatus  has 
discovered  that  Colletes  daviesanus  has  a  fondness 
for  the  pollen  of  tansy.  So  E-peolus  frequents  the 
tansy  flowers,  and  when  Colletes  comes  along  to 
get  another  supply  of  pollen  it  is  easy  to  shadow 
her  to  her  nest,  get  in  as  soon  as  her  back  is  turned, 
and  leave  the  fatal  eggs  behind. 

Then  there  are  several  species  of  Gcdioxys  of 
similar  marauding  habits,  and  they  prey  chiefly 
upon  the  Upholsterer  Bees  (Megacbile),  also  upon 
Osmia.  Friese  says  that  when  Goelioxys  sees  the 
rightful  owner  of  the  nest  returning  with  a  fresh 
supply  of  pollen  she  seeks  to  get  out  of  the  way 
and  not  be  seen ;  but  it  is  a  characteristic  of  all 
these  burglars  not  to  act  in  a  way  that  is  likely 


BURGLARS  289 

to  arouse  suspicion  or  resentment.  One  can  even 
imagine  them  asking  a  polite  question  as  to  the 
progress  of  the  work,  and  indulging  in  a  little 
judicious  flattery  as  to  the  perfect  manner  in  which 
it  is  being  carried  out. 

It  is  contended  by  some  authors  that  the  victim- 
ized bee  would  never  suspect  that  anything  was 
wrong,  even  if  she  caught  the  interloper  in  the  act 
of  depositing  eggs,  and  would  only  experience 
annoyance  from  a  stranger  being  present  and 
possibly  getting  in  her  way.  Some  observers  have 
stated  that  if  a  bee  returns  and  finds  a  stranger  in 
her  burrow,  she  politely  withdraws  to  give  the 
intruder  an  opportunity  for  departing.  It  is 
contended  that  the  artizan  having  no  knowledge 
of  what  happens  to  her  offspring  after  she  has  sealed 
up  her  cells  cannot  have  any  fear — even  if  she  sees 
a  strange  egg  on  her  store — that  anything  can 
interfere  with  the  due  course  of  development.  It 
may  be  so,  but  one  feels  that  if  there  is  anything  in 
"  instinct "  it  is  here  it  would  come  into  play  to 
warn  the  parent. 

Such  relationships  as  we  have  mentioned  are 
quite  common  between  different  species  of  the 
Hymenoptera ;  but  some  of  them  are  so  much 
like  those  we  have  described  that  our  readers  would 
scarcely  thank  us  for  going  into  details  with  the 
others.  Several,  however,  we  must  mention  briefly. 
The  industrious  bees  that  laboriously  gather  pollen 
— not  for  their  own  use,  but  in  order  that  their 
unseen  progeny  may  have  sufficient  food  to  last 

'9 


290  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

them  through  their  larval  stage — are  characterized 
by  a  special  arrangement  of  the  hind  pair  of  legs, 
the  shank  being  flattened  or  hollowed  and  fringed 
with  stiff  hairs  which  convert  it  into  a  basket  in 
which  the  closely  packed  pollen  can  be  carried 
home. 

The  bees  who  act  as  cuckoos  have  no  such  pro- 
vision, and  it  is  a  nice  point  whether  their  present 
depraved  status  is  due  to  the  persistence  in  evil 
courses  of  their  ancestors,  or  whether  the  niggardli- 
ness of  Nature  is  responsible  for  their  depravity. 
On  the  one  hand  it  may  be  that  originally  they 
were  fitted  out  with  pollen-baskets,  but  that  the 
continued  non-use  of  them  caused  these  to  dwindle 
and  ultimately  disappear.  On  the  other  hand  they 
may  have  been  at  the  beginning  what  they  are  now, 
in  which  case  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  find  fault 
with  their  dishonest  mode  of  life. 

Before  much  was  known  of  the  actual  habits  of 
these  bees  it  was  assumed  from  the  absence  of  the 
pollen- baskets  that  they  were  parasites.  Then  in 
the  case  of  the  genus  Sphecodes,  which  has  an  incipient 
pollen-basket,  it  was  variously  suggested  that  this 
was  the  beginning  of  a  better  condition  of  affairs, 
and  that  it  was  the  last  survival  of  what  was  once 
upon  a  time  in  the  history  of  the  race  a  properly 
developed  basket.  To  give  point  to  the  first  view 
it  was  stated  that  some  of  them  had  been  observed 
burrowing  on  their  own  account.  It  may  be  that 
they  do  at  times  strive  after  a  better  mode  of  life, 
for  which  at  present  they  are  ill-fitted,  but  on 


BURGLARS  291 

the  whole  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  their  pre- 
vailing habit  is  to  have  their  young  brought  up  at 
the  expense  of  the  burrowing  bees  Andrena  and 
Halictus. 

A  more  remarkable  case  is  that  of  the  Humble 
Bees  (Bombus)  and  the  Cuckoo  Bees  (Psitbyrus). 
Here  the  two  tribes  are  so  much  alike  in  size, 
clothing,  and  colouring  that  only  an  expert  can  tell 
you  which  is  which.  But  if  one  examines  the 
hind  legs  of  the  two  the  difference  is  at  once 
manifest  in  the  presence  and  absence  of  the  pollen- 
basket  respectively.  It  was  formerly  thought  that 
these  Cuckoo  Bees — of  which  we  have  five  species — 
were  merely  messmates  of  the  Humble  Bees,  in 
some  way  making  return  for  their  food  and  lodging  ; 
but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  are  actual 
parasites,  thriving  at  the  Humble  Bee's  expense, 
and  bringing  about  the  deterioration  or  absolute 
ruin  of  the  colony. 

The  Cuckoo  Bees  are  all  males  and  females  : 
there  is  no  worker  class.  Each  species  in  colour 
mimics  that  species  of  Humble  Bee  upon  which  it 
preys,  but  is  usually  somewhat  larger.  Why  there 
should  be  this  mimicry  is  not  clear,  for  it  does  not 
impose  upon  the  Humble  Bee.  The  mother  of 
the  colony  detects  the  cheat,  and  in  some  species 
attempts  to  eject  the  intruder.  But  this  appears 
always  to  result  in  the  Humble  Bee  being  killed, 
and  the  progress  of  the  colony  being  checked,  of 
course.  This  is  apparently  the  Cuckoo's  object. 
She  helps  herself  to  the  contents  of  the  honey-pot, 


292   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

and  with  the  Humble  Bee's  wax  constructs  cells 
for  her  own  eggs.  Her  grubs  have  to  be  fed  by 
the  exertions  of  the  Humble  Bee  workers,  and  the 
mother  of  the  colony  being  dead,  there  are  no 
more  Humble  Bee  eggs  to  develop  into  more 
workers.  The  presence  of  cocoons  belonging  to  the 
Cuckoo  Bees  in  the  combs  of  Bombus  can  always 
be  detected*  by  their  larger  size. 

The  Humble  Bees  have  other  intruders  in  their 
nests.  Among  them  in  this  country  is  a  curious 
creature  (Mutilla)  whose  wingless  female  in  form 
much  resembles  a  large  ant,  but  its  hairy  covering, 
brightly  coloured,  gives  it  a  likeness  to  a  bee.  Its 
affinities  are  really  closer  with  the  digging  wasps 
(F os sores).  They  are  very  rarely  seen,  except  by 
those  whose  studies  lead  them  to  explore  the  nests 
of  wild  bees.  The  wingless  female  with  eggs  to 
lay  crawls  into  the  nest  of  the  Humble  Bee,  finds 
out  the  bee-grub  in  its  cell,  and,  it  is  supposed, 
pierces  the  body  of  the  grub  and  lays  an  egg  inside 
it. 

In  about  three  days  the  egg  hatches  and  the 
Mutilla  gradually  consumes  the  bee  larva,  and 
when  it  has  completed  its  destructive  work  it  spins 
a  cocoon  inside  the  skin  of  its  victim.  When  it 
has  run  through  its  course  and  arrived  at  the 
ultimate  stage,  if  a  male,  it  soon  leaves  the  nest ; 
but  the  females  regale  themselves  at  the  Humble 
Bee's  honey-pot  before  seeking  adventures  outside. 
Another  burrowing  wasp  (Sapyga)  instead  of 
making  a  burrow  for  itself,  as  its  kindred  do,  takes 


BURGLARS  293 

possession  of  the  burrows  that  the  solitary  bee 
Osmia  has  made  in  a  bramble-stem.  It  lays  its  eggs 
there,  and  the  young  Sapyga  grub  begins  life  by 
eating  the  egg  of  Osmia,  and  thereafter  consumes 
the  provisions  laid  up  by  the  bee. 

Some  of  the  parasitic  wasps  confine  their  depre- 
dations to  the  nests  of  other  wasps.  Thus  Pompilus, 
one  of  the  Spider- hunting  Wasps  (see  page  29), 
has  its  nest  invaded  by  a  relative  named  Ceropales, 
who  lays  an  egg  on  the  freshly  brought  in  spider, 
and  so  anticipates  Pompilus'  own  egg-laying.  More 
frequently  Ceropales,  like  Epeolus,  saves  herself  the 
trouble  of  hunting  out  Pompilus'  nest  by  watching 
Pompilus  when  she  is  stalking  spiders.  When  she 
has  secured  her  prey  and  is  flying  heavily  home 
with  it,  C era-pales,  flying  light,  overtakes '  and  lays 
an  egg  upon  the  burden.  One  is  inclined  to 
sympathize  with  Pompilus  in  this  matter,  but  some 
observations  of  Ferton's  tend  to  withhold  our  pity 
and  make  us  exclaim  "  arcades  ambo  "  ;  for  he  says 
that  when  Pompilus  has  caught  a  spider,  one  of 
her  own  tribe  may  come  along  and  despoil  her  of 
it  forcibly. 

Larrada  australis  waits  until  Sceliphron  latus,  one 
of  the  Mud-dauber  Wasps  (see  page  81),  has  made 
her  mud-cell  and  provisioned  it,  and  then — under 
the  eyes  of  the  builder — proceeds  to  partition  off 
part  of  the  cell  and  its  food-supply  in  which  she 
lays  her  own  egg.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  the 
Larrada  grub  eats  up  the  Sceliphron  grub.  Whittell 
says  there  is  a  little  preliminary  skirmishing  between 


294  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

householder  and  burglar,  as  if  each  were  doubtful 
of  the  attitude  of  the  other,  but  it  ends  in  Sceliphron 
allowing  Larrada  to  carry  out  her  plan.  This 
looks  like  another  failure  of  instinct.  There  is  no 
room  for  reasoning  in  the  matter,  for  none  of 
these  wasps  has  any  inherited  knowledge  of  what 
happens  to  her  offspring,  and  the  grub  that  suffers 
from  such  dishonest  proceedings  never  survives  to 
transmit  the  knowledge  to  descendants. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  audacious  examples  of 
these  burglarious  practices  is  afforded  by  the 
habitual,  everyday  conduct  of  the  little  yellow  ant 
Solenofsis  fugax.  This  ant  seeks  out  a  nest  of 
Formica  fusca,  an  ant  twice  its  size,  and  constructs 
its  own  galleries  in  the  walls  of  fusca's  habitation. 
From  these  galleries  it  makes  entrances  into  the 
chambers  of  the  larger  ant  and  lives  cheaply  at  the 
expense  of  Formica  on  its  grubs  and  chrysalides. 
It  might  be  inquired,  why  do  the  larger  ants  permit 
this  ?  There  appears  to  be  only  one  reason,  and 
that  is  that  their  superior  size  puts  them  at  a 
disadvantage.  When  in  danger  of  being  caught 
the  smaller  ants  slip  through  their  minute  holes 
and  tunnels  where  Formica  cannot  follow  them. 
Forel  says  that  these  entrances  and  exits  are  so 
carefully  contrived  that  they  only  just  permit  the 
passage  of  the  Solenopsis. 

One  might  suppose  that  from  living  for  geriera- 
tions  in  such  close  proximity,  some  sort  of  friendli- 
ness would  have  been  established  between  the  two 
species ;  but  that  is  not  so.  When  they  chance  to 


BURGLARS  295 

meet,  the  individuals  of  the  two  races  fight  furiously, 
in  which  the  small  size  of  the  burglar  is  compensated 
by  the  possession  of  a  sting. 

The  cunning  of  the  Solenopsis  is  curiously  like 
the  operations  of  the  scientific  human  burglars, 
who,  having  ascertained  that  certain  business 
premises  are  worth  looting,  rent  some  adjoining 
property  and  then  quietly  cut  through  the  inter- 
vening walls  or  tunnel  under  the  basement  to  effect 
a  secret  entry  that  will  give  them  access  to  the 
treasures  of  the  more  industrious  firm. 

One  of  the  burrowing  wasps  (Tachytes),  that 
provisions  its  nest  with  stung  Mantis,  has  its  labours 
for  its  prospective  progeny  destroyed  by  the  grub 
of  one  of  the  Blister  Beetles  (Cerocoma  scb&fferi), 
which  eats  up  the  provisions  and  so  starves  the  wasp 
grub.  This  is  not  the  only  beetle  given  to  such 
nefarious  practices.  There  are  two  that  belong 
to  this  same  family  of  Blister  Beetles  that  have 
long  been  known  to  victimize  solitary  bees  of  the 
genus  Antbo'phora  (see  page  27),  and  another  one 
of  a  neighbouring  family  that  acts  in  a  similar 
unfriendly  way  to  the  Social  Wasps. 

The  methods  of  the  two  first  (Sitaris  and  Meloe) 
are  so  astonishing  that  a  recital  of  them  must 
appear  to  the  ordinary  reader,  unused  to  the  strange 
ways  of  Nature,  as  a  bit  of  Munchausen  literature. 
At  the  same  time  they  afford  an  interesting  com- 
mentary upon  "  unerring  instinct " — and  other 
matters.  Here,  briefly  put,  is  the  story  of  the 
Oil  Beetles  (Meloe).  There  are  numerous  species— 


296   INSECT  AKTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

seven  are  known  to  the  collector  of  British  beetles 
— and  a  common  species  may  frequently  be  seen 
in  spring  dragging  its  bloated  blue-black  body 
across  country  paths.  It  is  probably  a  female 
seeking  for  a  favourable  spot  in  which  to  deposit 
her  eggs.  These  she  plants  in  batches  in  holes  in 
the  ground,  and  it  is  calculated  that  her  total  out- 
put of  eggs  amounts  to  about  ten  thousand. 

Now,  seeing  that  these  beetles  exude  an  unplea- 
sant oil-like  yellow  secretion  from  their  joints 
which  renders  them  objectionable  to  creatures 
that  feed  upon  insects,  there  does  not  at  first  sight 
appear  to  be  any  need  for  such  lavish  fruitfulness. 
What  becomes  of  this  progeny  ?  The  Oil  Beetles 
are  not  insects  that  appear  in  swarms.  It  is  estim- 
ated that  only  one  in  a  thousand  gets  beyond  the 
first  larval  stage.  We  should  say  that  the  estimate 
is  too  high,  for  we  do  not  find  the  species  any 
more  plentiful  to-day  than  we  found  it  forty  years 
ago.  What  becomes  of  the  nine  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  ninety-odd  will  appear,  and  give 
point  to  Tennyson's  lines  on  Nature : 

"  So  careful  of  the  type,  she  seems ; 
So  careless  of  the  single  life." 

The  Oil  Beetle's  eggs  hatch  and  give  origin  to 
larvae  that  have  little  likeness  to  the  usual  types 
of  beetle-grubs.  They  have  six  long  legs,  and  are 
quite  active  little  runners  and  climbers.  They|are 
long-bodied,  but  this  length  only  extends  to  about 
one-tenth  of  an  inch.  As  soon  as  they  have  escaped 


BURGLARS  297 

from  the  egg-shells  and  the  earth,  they  start  climb- 
ing the  stems  of  flowering  plants,  and  continue 
until  they  have  reached  the  flower.  Here  they 
wait  patiently  until  some  other  insect  visits  that 
flower  in  quest  of  nectar  or  pollen.  When  such  a 
visitor  arrives  the  larva  at  once  clings  to  its  body, 
and  is  carried  away  unnoticed. 

This  larva  is  called  a  triungulin,  because  each  of 
its  six  feet  ends  in  three  claws,  and  it  appears  to  be 
formed  solely  with  a  view  to  this  indispensable  act 
of  its  life — the  clinging  to  a  particular  kind  of  bee. 
But  it  is  here  that  its  instinct  fails.  In  order  that 
it  may  justify  its  existence  it  should  cling  only  to 
a  bee  of  the  genus  Antho'phora.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
it  will  cling  to  any  insect  that  is  sufficiently  hairy 
to  enable  its  hooked  feet  to  hold  on.  Unless  it 
catches  the  right  bee  it  perishes,  the  success  of 
the  operation  depending  upon  the  triungulin  being 
conveyed  to  the  bee's  nest. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  particular  individual  in 
which  we  are  interested  has  boarded  the  right  bus, 
so  to  speak,  and  arrived  in  the  burrow  of  the  Antho- 
fhora,  where  there  is  a  cell  fully  provisioned  with 
honey,  upon  which  the  bee  now  deposits  a  floating 
egg.  The  triungulin  is  waiting  for  this  act,  and 
before  the  bee  has  time  to  seal  up  the  cell  it  slips  off 
the  bee  and  balances  itself  nicely  upon  the  bee's  egg. 

At  this  stage  of  existence  it  is  incapable  of  feeding 
upon  honey ;  the  one  thing  that  it  appears  able 
to  take  in  the  way  of  nourishment  is  the  bee's  egg, 
and  this  it  devours.  The  egg  of  a  bee  may  appear 


298   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

to  be  a  very  small  matter,  but  it  serves  the  triungulin 
for  several  days ;  and  then  the  insect  casts  its  first 
skin  and  appears  in  a  different  form.  It  now  more 
closely  resembles  the  grub  of  the  cockchafer,  and 
is  capable  of  floating  on  the  honey  and  of  feeding 
upon  it.  But  how  many  of  its  kindred,  hatched 
from  the  multitudinous  eggs  of  the  same  mother 
beetle,  have  perished  !  In  due  time  it  consumes 
all  the  honey,  changes  into  a  chrysalis,  and  finally 
into  a  perfect  Oil  Beetle. 

There  is  another  beetle — rare  in  this  country — 
named  Sitaris,  which  curiously  goes  through  a 
similar  experience,  also  in  connection  with  an 
Antho'phora  bee.  It  is  more  plentiful  in  the  South 
of  France  than  it  is  with  us,  and  Fabre  has  managed 
to  work  out  its  life-history  with  tolerable  com- 
pleteness, a  matter  of  considerable  difficulty,  as 
will  be  understood  from  the  following  brief  state- 
ment : 

Sitaris  humeralis  is  not  so  prolific  as  Meloe,  but 
she  lays  at  least  two  thousand  eggs,  and  takes  care 
to  place  them  in  the  ground  very  near  to  the 
burrows  of  Antbophora.  This  happens  some  time 
in  August,  and  the  eggs  hatch  about  the  end  of 
September.  There  are  well-stored  honey-cells 
close  at  hand,  and  one  would  expect  that  the  little 
black  Sitaris  triungulins  would  at  once  go  to  them 
and  begin  feeding.  But  the  sensation  of  hunger 
is  at  present  unknown  to  them ;  they  simply 
huddle  together  and  pass  the  winter  where  they 
were  born. 


BURGLARS  299 

In  spring — about  April  or  May — they  wake  up, 
and  begin  to  look  about  them.  Should  any  hairy 
insect  come  within  reach  they  seize  upon  it,  whether 
it  be  bee,  fly,  or  beetle,  and  as  a  result  the  vast 
majority  fail  to  proceed  farther  on  their  proper 
way  of  life.  The  first  of  the  new  Anthofhoras  to 
issue  from  their  cells  are  males ;  and  as  these 
hang  about  in  the  burrows  for  a  few  days  until 
their  wings  and  integuments  have  hardened  pro- 
perly, a  number  of  the  Sitaris  triungulins  have  a 
good  opportunity  for  attaching  themselves,  and 
they  take  advantage  of  it. 

But  they  appear  to  know  that  they  have  not  yet 
got  hold  of  the  insect  that  can  directly  help  them- 
to  work  out  their  destiny.  About  a  month  later 
the  female  bees  emerge,  and  as  these  are  being 
courted  by  the  males,  the  triungulins  contrive  to 
transfer  themselves  from  one  to  the  other.  The 
females  busy  themselves,  of  course,  in  the  making 
of  cells,  and  the  triungulin,  knowing  that  it  has 
reached  its  destination,  gets  off  as  soon  as  the  bee 
lays  an  egg  on  the  store  of  honey. 

The  cell  is  sealed  up,  and  the  little  Sitaris  com- 
mences to  feed  upon  the  egg.  This  repast  lasts 
about  eight  days,  and  then  it  casts  its  skin,  and 
emerges  as  a  very  different  creature,  with  exceed- 
ingly short  legs  and  a  shortened  inflated  body  which 
enables  it  to  float  on  the  honey  with  safety.  Its 
spiracles  or  breathing-holes  are  placed  along  each 
side  of  the  back,  instead  of  along  the  sides  as  usual 
in  larvae,  so  that  it  can  breathe  without  risk  of 


300  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

the  spiracles  becoming  clogged.  The  only  exertion 
demanded  of  it  is  the  sucking  up  of  the  honey,  and 
there  is  enough  of  this  to  occupy  it  for  about  forty 
days. 

This  brings  it  to  the  middle  of  July,  when  it 
changes  again,  becoming  much  like  the  puparium 
of  a  fly.  In  this  condition  it  may  remain  for  a 
month,  or  for  eight  months.  Those  of  the  shorter 
period  return  to  much  the  same  condition  as 
that  in  which  they  consumed  the  honey.  A  little 
later  it  becomes  a  chrysalis,  and  in  August  or 
September  it  emerges  as  a  Sitaris  beetle.  The 
tardy  individuals  pass  the  winter  in  the  false  pupal 
condition,  and  finish  their  changes  in  spring. 
This,  it  will  be  seen,  is  one  of  the  most  complicated 
and  remarkable  of  insect  life-histories. 


XIII 

LAMP-BEARERS 


301 


XIII 
LAMP-BEARERS 

THOUGH  the  bearers  of  lights  produced  and  main- 
tained by  their  own  vital  chemistry  are  common 
enough  among  creatures  of  the  sea,  they  are  exceed- 
ingly rare  upon  land.  The  ocean  has  many  back- 
boned light-bearers  in  the  luminous  fishes  of  the 
deeps,  but  no  terrestrial  back-boned  animal  has 
such  power.  The  Lamp-bearers  of  the  land  are 
all  small  invertebrate  animals,  and  with  very  few 
exceptions  they  are  beetles.  A  hundred  years  ago 
it  was  believed  that  there  were  others  among  the 
bugs — the  so-called  Lantern  Flies — but  the  belief 
has  long  been  given  up  ;  though  science  has  em- 
balmed the  error  in  their  Latin  name  Fulgora. 

The  name  of  our  Glow-worm  (Lampyris  nocti- 
luca)  will  at  once  arise  to  the  mind  of  any  reader 
who  has  met  with  the  male  insect,  and  knows 
therefore  that  it  is  a  beetle,  and  not  a  worm,  as 
the  unfortunate  folk-name  leads  many  to  suppose. 
This  misconception  is  due,  of  course,  to  the  fact 
that  the  female,  who  carries  a  far  more  powerful 
lamp  than  her  mate,  is  not  merely  wingless,  but 
lacks  also  the  wing-covers  which  many  wingless 

303 


304  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

beetles  are  endowed  with,  as  though  to  give  them 
an  air  of  respectability  and  prevent  their  being 
included  in  a  lower  class. 

The  female  Glow-worm  is  certainly  not  like  any 
terrestrial  worm,  though  in  the  sea  we  could  find 
specimens  that  would  justify  the  comparison.  She 
is  soft  and  depressed,  and  her  back  shows  plainly 
the  segments  of  her  structure.  On  the  under  side 
of  her  hind  body  and  near  to  its  extremity  are 
three  light-giving  patches  on  each  side.  During 
the  daytime  she  remains  hidden  among  the  grass 
and  moss  of  hedgebanks,  feeding  upon  snails,  which 
she  literally  "  eats  out  of  house  and  home." 

In  the  evening  she  temporarily  leaves  her  repast 
and  climbs  up  the  stem  of  some  weed  in  order  that 
her  lamps  shall  be  raised  just  above  the  grass,  and 
gives  a  twist  to  her  hind  body  so  that  the  light 
may  be  more  fully  revealed  to  the  world  in  general, 
and  perhaps  to  the  other  sex  of  her  own  kind  more 
particularly.  This  is  not  the  universal  opinion  of 
its  use,  some  authorities  pointing  out  that  there 
are  thousands  of  nocturnal  creatures  who  contrive 
to  find  partners  without  any  such  aid.  That  is  so  ; 
but  seeing  that  in  this  case  the  female  is  wingless 
and  unable  to  drag  herself  far  from  her  feeding- 
ground,  it  is  at  least  feasible  that  the  luminosity 
is  made  use  of  by  the  species  for  this  purpose. 

It  may  be  stated  that  no  better  explanation  has 
yet  been  offered.  Opponents  of  this  view  point 
out  that  some  other  reason  is  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  the  larva  is  also  luminous,  and  not  only 


LAMP-BEARERS  305 

the  larva,  but  the  pupa  and  egg  as  well.  It  is  quite 
certain  that  in  neither  of  these  stages  can  the  insect 
make  use  of  luminosity  in  this  connection  ;  but,  as 
Messrs.  Priske  and  Main  point  out,  "  there  are 
instances  in  other  animals  of  organs  present  in  the 
male  and  immature  forms  which  are  only  functional 
in  the  mature  female." 

The  male  also  has  a  small  degree  of  light,  but 
his  lamps  are  no  bigger  than  pin-heads.  Now,  it 
appears  to  us  that  if  the  females'  light  were  not  for 
the  purpose  of  attracting  the  male,  the  latter  would 
give  as  brilliant  a  display  as  his  partner. 

Besides,  if  you  compare  the  eyes  of  the  two 
sexes,  you  will  see  that  whilst  those  of  the  female 
are  small,  those  of  the  male  are  so  highly  developed 
that  almost  the  whole  of  his  head  consists  of  his 
large  eyes.  Are  not  these  eyes  developed  to  a  far 
greater  extent  than  those  of  the  female  in  order 
that  he  may  the  better  see  where  her  light  is  shining  ? 
He  is  certainly  attracted  by  light  in  a  manner  that 
other  of  our  native  beetles  are  not ;  and  we  have 
witnessed  male  Glow-worms  flocking  by  scores 
through  an  open  window  because  a  bright  lamp 
shone  within.  Till  then  we  had  never  imagined 
the  Glow-worm  was  at  all  plentiful  in  that  district, 
and  the  impression  we  formed  was  that  they  had  all 
taken  the  lamp  to  be  a  fine  and  very  luminous 
female. 

In  connection  with  the  difference  in  the  eyes  of 
the  two  sexes  noted  above,  Dimmock  says :  "  When 
one  sex  of  any  species  of  Lampyridse  emits  intenser 

20 


306  INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

light  than  the  other  sex,  the  less  luminous  sex  has, 
as  a  rule,  the  best  developed  eyes ;  this  is  especially 
marked  in  the  case  of  the  large  eyes  of  males  of 
species  in  which  the  female  is  luminous,  but 
apterous." 

There  is  very  little  difference  in  the  appearance 
of  the  larvae  and  the  fully  developed  females.  From 
the  laying  of  the  egg  to  the  emergence  of  the 
perfect  insect  from  the  chrysalis  a  period  of  about 
twenty-one  months  is  covered,  the  insects  becoming 
inactive  during  winter.  Both  larvae  and  perfect 
insects  feed  upon  snails  and  slugs.  Such  creatures 
when  attacked  exude  a  great  amount  of  slime,  and 
the  larva  has  a  special  implement  for  dealing  with 
this  when  it  has  got  smeared  over  its  body.  Such 
a  coating  might  seriously  interfere  with  the  proper 
action  of  the  breathing  apparatus  by  closing  some 
of  the  spiracles ;  but  from  the  last  segment  of  its 
body  the  insect  can  protrude  a  bunch  of  whitish 
filaments  which  it  uses  as  a  brush  by  curving  the 
flexible  hind  body  and  drawing  the  brush  over  the 
soiled  part. 

As  to  the  nature  of  the  luminosity  of  the  Glow- 
worm and  other  Lamp-bearers,  there  is  much 
difference  of  opinion  among  the  authorities.  One 
says  it  is  due  to  the  slow  oxidation  of  a  special 
substance  in  the  cells  of  the  light-giving  region, 
controlled  by  the  nervous  system.  Another  says 
he  has  found  in  the  Fire-fly  that  it  is  due  to  the 
reaction  of  two  substances  called  luciferase  and 
luciferine,  the  former  found  only  in  the  luminous 


LAMP-BEARERS  307 

organs  and  the  latter  in  the  blood,  and  the  entry 
of  blood  into  these  organs  produces  the  manifesta- 
tion. It  may  be  pointed  out,  however,  that  neither 
of  these  explanations  will  account  for  the  luminosity 
of  the  egg,  where  there  are  neither  air-tubes  nor 
blood-vessels. 

Whatever  be  the  true  explanation  of  its  chemistry, 
it  is  certain  that  the  exhibition  is  under  the  control 
of  the  insect,  as  may  be  proved  on  capturing  an 
individual.  Gilbert  White  was  of  opinion  that  the 
Glow-worm  puts  out  her  light  between  eleven  and 
twelve  o'clock  at  night ;  and  although  no  modern 
observer  appears  to  have  taken  the  trouble  to 
check  this  statement,  it  is  quite  probable,  for 
many  nocturnal  insects  have  definite  hours  of 
flight,  and  if  the  male  Glow-worm  ceases  to  fly 
about  that  hour  one  might  expect  the  female  to 
conserve  her  light  by  switching  it  off  at  the  time 
when  the  experience  of  the  race  has  proved  it  to 
be  ineffectual.  This,  of  course,  presumes  again 
that  the  light  is  of  sexual  importance. 

On  this  point,  as  to  the  reason  for  the  lumines- 
cence, it  should  be  mentioned  that  Mr.  Belt 
contended  that  it  was  protective.  He  found  that 
the  insects  were  distasteful  to  insectivorous  mammals 
and  birds  ;  and,  therefore,  it  would  be  an  advantage 
to  the  species  that  their  enemies  should  be  able  to 
recognize  them  at  once  by  their  light,  and  so  avoid 
them.  This  explanation,  however,  does  not  go 
far  enough. 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  the  Glow-worm 


3o8   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

is  not  the  only  luminous  insect  that  is  found  in 
Britain.  There  is  another  species  which  has  no 
folk-name,  but  we  may  call  it  for  distinction'  sake 
the  Little  Glow-worm  (Phospbtenus  hemipterus). 
The  male  is  not  uncommon  in  places,  but  the 
female  appears  to  be  rare.  Neither  sex  has  wings, 
and  its  light-giving  powers  are  very  feeble. 

Another  species  which  has  been  occasionally 
taken  in  this  country,  but  is  very  plentiful  in  the 
South  of  Europe,  is  the  Italian  Fire-fly  (Luciola 
italic  a).  In  this  species — a  beetle  again  in  spite 
of  the  name — both  sexes  are  provided  with  wings 
but  the  female  is  altogether  feebler  and  less  highly 
developed  than  the  male.  This  probably  accounts 
for  the  fact  that  the  female  is  accounted  very  rare 
the  swarms  that  on  warm  evenings  in  May  anc 
June  display  their  light  in  the  air  consisting  almost 
entirely  of  males.  The  feebler  female,  like  our 
wingless  Glow-worm,  keeps  to  the  herbage  near 
the  ground.  The  Italian  Fire-fly  is  a  little  smaller 
than  our  male  Glow-worm.  Another  European 
species  of  Glow-worm  is  known  as  Lampyris  splendi- 
dula. 

Eaton  has  timed  the  duration  of  the  flashes  of 
the  Italian  Fire-fly's  light  and  finds  that  it  is 
from  a  third  to  a  fourth  of  a  second,  and  that  they 
are  repeated  about  thirty-six  times  in  a  minute. 

The  strange  grub-like  condition  of  our  female 
Glow-worm  appears  to  be  accentuated  in  a  South 
American  species  known  as  Phengodes  hieronymi, 
The  winged  male  is  especially  noticeable  on  account 


LAMP-BEARERS  309 

of  its  remarkable  antennae,  which  are  developed 
into  feather-like  organs.  As  his  eyes  do  not  exhibit 
any  undue  development,  it  may  be  conjectured 
that  he  finds  the  wingless  female  by  some  other 
sense  than  sight,  in  which  the  branched  antennae 
assist  him.  The  female  is  said  to  have  been  long 
known  in  Paraguay  as  the  Railway  Beetle,  for 
reasons  that  will  appear ;  but  it  is  difficult  to 
understand  how  any  one  not  an  entomologist  could 
suspect  that  it  had  any  connection  with  beetles. 
Railway  Worm  would  be  the  much  more  likely 
term. 

The  reason  for  its  association  with  railways  is 
the  allegation  that  along  its  sides  it  has  numerous 
points  from  which  a  green  light  is  produced,  whilst 
from  either  end  a  strong  red  light  glows.  The 
statement  as  to  the  green  lights  is  convincing 
enough,  but  the  red  lights  we  are  not  so  sure  of. 
Haase  publishes  a  figure  of  one  of  these  Railway 
Worms  (reproduced  in  Cambridge  Natural  History) 
in  which  the  position  of  the  side  lights  is  indicated, 
but  there  is  no  reference  to  the  head  and  tail  lights. 
These  are  probably  not  luminous  spots  at  all,  but 
bright-red  colour-markings. 

The  Fire-flies  of  the  American  tropics  are 
beetles  of  another  family,  represented  in  Britain 
by  the  Skipjacks  or  Click  Beetles,  of  which  our 
destructive  Wire  Worm  is  one  of  the  larvae.  The 
old  books  of  travel  in  the  West  Indies  made  these 
Fire-flies  or  Cucujos  quite  familiar  to  the  English 
reader.  It  was  not  so  in  earlier  days  when  Sir 


3io   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

Thomas  Cavendish  first  landed  in  the  West  Indies. 
The  idea  of  flying  lights  had  not  yet  got  abroad ; 
so  when  in  the  evening  brave  Sir  Thomas  and  his 
party  saw  lights  moving  in  the  woods  they  were 
convinced  that  their  enemies,  the  Spaniards,  were 
advancing  upon  them,  and  they  sought  safety  in 
their  ships. 

But  though  the  Fire-flies  were  unknown  to 
Cavendish,  they  had  already  become  known  to 
literature,  for  Peter  Martyr,  who  was  contemporary 
with  Columbus,  has  left  us  some  account  of  them 
in  his  Decades,  which  Southey  quoted  in  the  notes 
to  his  Madoc.  Peter  says  that  in  the  Spanish  West 
Indies  the  natives  employed  these  living  lamps 
instead  of  candles,  and  when  abroad  at  nighl 
travelling,  hunting  or  fishing,  they  tied  a  Cucujo 
to  each  big  toe  and  needed  no  other  light.  He  also 
says  that  they  employed  them  in  their  houses,  not 
only  to  light  the  apartments,  but  to  prey  upon 
the  gnats,  which  were  a  dreadful  pest.  This  state- 
ment is  very  doubtful,  though  made  in  good  faith. 

To  capture  the  Cucujos  the  native  would  go  out 
of  the  house  at  the  beginning  of  twilight,  carrying 
a  burning  fire-brand  in  his  hand,  and  ascend  the 
first  hillock  that  his  light  might  be  better  seen  by 
the  beetles.  There  he  would  swing  the  firebrand 
around  and  call  "Cucuie,  Cucuie."  The  simple 
people,  Peter  says,  believe  that  the  Fire-flies  come 
in  response  to  their  call,  but  for  his  part  he  believes 
that  the  fire  is  the  attraction. 

On  certain  festival  days  in  June  the  beetles  were 


LAMP-BEARERS  311 

collected  in  great  numbers  and  fastened  to  the 
dress  of  young  people  and  the  trappings  of  horses, 
upon  which  the  youngsters  would  ride  through  the 
streets  after  dark.  On  such  occasions  many  wanton 
wild  fellows  rub  their  faces  with  parts  of  a  freshly 
killed  Cucujo  "  with  purpose  to  meet  their  neigh- 
bours with  a  flaming  countenance." 

This  Cucujo  or  Fire-fly  is  the  Pyro^'horus  noctiluca. 
There  are  a  large  number  of  species  in  the  genus 
Pyrophorus,  but  they  are  not  all  Fire-flies,  though 
probably  the  majority  are  more  or  less  luminous. 
P.  noctiluca  is  the  only  one  whose  life-history  has 
been  dealt  with  satisfactorily.  As  we  have  said, 
the  perfect  insect  is  very  like  our  Skipjack,  but 
much  larger.  It  measures  about  an  inch  and  three- 
quarters  in  length,  and  is  of  a  rusty-brown  colour. 
On  the  hard  shield-like  crust  of  the  fore  body 
(thorax),  there  are  two  oval  spots  which  the  older 
writers  thought  were  the  creature's  eyes,  because 
they  are  luminous  in  the  evening.  But  the  chief 
source  of  light  is  on  the  under  side  at  the  junction 
of  the  fore  body  and  the  hind  body,  which  is  not 
visible  except  when  the  beetle  is  on  the  wing. 

Like  those  of  the  Glow-worm,  the  eggs  of  the 
Cucujo  are  said  to  be  luminous;  and  the  larva  has 
the  same  quality.  But  there  is  an  increase  of  the 
light-bearing  spots  during  the  larval  period.  At 
first  the  larva  has  only  one  luminous  area — just 
behind  the  head  ;  but  at  a  later  change  of  skin  this 
is  supplemented  by  a  row  of  luminous  points  along 
the  sides  above  the  spiracles  or  breathing-pores. 


312   INSECT  ARTIZANS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

A  minute  species  of  Fire-fly  (Pboturus  pennsyl- 
vanicus),  common  in  the  Eastern  United  States, 
has  wings  in  both  sexes.  It  is  yellowish  in  colour, 
with  a  few  ill- defined  lines  of  brown  or  black.  In 
the  Mississippi  Valley  its  place  is  taken  by  Photinus 
pyralis.  Its  larva  lives  upon  earth-worms  and 
soft-bodied  insects,  which  it  hunts  for  underground. 


INDEX 


Abispa,  86 

Acanthocinus  cedilis,  119 
Acherontia  atropos,  275 
Aoridiida,  265,  267 
Agenia  carbonaria,  85 
Ageronia  feronia,  276 
Agricultural  Ant,  214 
Ammophila,    35,    81,    107;     A. 
sabulosa,  36  ;    A .  hirsuta,  37, 
38  ;  A.  gracilis,  37  ;  A.  urna- 
lis,  37  ;   A.  yarrowii,  38 
Anabolia  nervosa,  198 
Andrena,  21,  23,  26,  287,  291 
Anobium  striatum,  117  ;    ^4.  /gs- 

sellatum,  117 
Ant  as  grain-storer,  211 
Anthidium  bellicosum,  131;    ^(. 
diadema,  130;   ^4.  manicatum, 
129  ;   ^4.  septemdentatum,  131 
Anthophora,  27,  295,  297 
Anthrax  tri fas data,  287 
Anthrenus  musceorum,  239 
Ant-rice,  214 
Ants,  6 

Ants,  Agricultural,  214;  Har- 
vesting, 212  ;  Leaf -cutting, 
218;  Parasol,  218;  Saiiba, 
218 

Ants'  "  Kohl-rabi,"  223 
Aphenogaster  barbara,  212;    A, 

structor,  2 12 

Aphilanthops  frigidus,  49 
Aphis  Lion,  207 
Aphodius,  54 
u4£is    mellifica,    140,    143;     .4. 

dorsata,  142 
Apoica  pallida,  175 
Apterostigma,  223 
Arindy-silk,  9 
Aristida  stricta,  grass  grown  by 

ants,  214 
Aromia  moschata,  118 


Asparagus  Beetle,  275 

Astata,  39 

Ateuchus  pihtlaria,  53 

^4//«  providens,  217;    ^4.  cepha- 

lotes,  218  ;    ^4.  discigera,  222  ; 

^4.  hystrix,  222 
Austrian  Wasp,  166 
^4^eca,  224 

Bacon  Beetles,  237 

Bark  Beetle,  113 

Bee,  Big,  142  ;  Carder,  129, 156  ; 
Carpenter,  97,  139;  Cuckoo, 
291  ;  Honey,  139  ;  Humble, 
I5I-58,  272,  291  ;  Leal- 
cutting,  28,  131  ;  Mason,  67, 
139,  287  ;  Mining,  21,  139 

Bee-bread,  149 

Bee  Flies,  248 

Bees,  Wild,  22,  25,  27 

Bembex,  40-3,  46  ;  B.  rostrata, 
40,  282  ;  B.  ciliata,  41 

Big  Bee,  142 

"  Biscuit  Weevil,"  117 

Blister  Beetle,  295 

Blow-fly,  245,  246 

Blue-bottle,  232,  245,  246,  273 

Bombus,  151  ;  B.  agrorum,  157  ; 
B.  sylvarum,  157  ;  B.  terres- 
tris,  157 

Bostrichus,  116 

Brephos  notha,  122 

Brown  China-mark,  194 

Brown  Lacewing,  207 

Buprestis  splendida,  118 

Burnet  Moths,  14 

Burrowing  Wasps,  39-50 

Caddis  Flies,  197 
Caddis  Worms,  197 
Calicurgus,  29 


313 


INDEX 


Calliphora  vomitoria,  245,  246 
Camberwell  Beauty,  17 
Camponotus,  224  ;     C.  pennsyl- 

vanicus,  109  ;    C.  herculaneus, 

in 

Carder  Bee,  129,  156 
Carpenter  Ants,  109,  177 
Carpenter  Bees,  97,  139 
Carpenter  Beetles,  112 
Carrion  Beetles,  237 
Carrion- chafers,  274 
Cassida,  206 
Castnia  eudesmia,  14 
Cataclysta  lemnata,  196 
Caterpillar  tents,  15,  16,  17 
Cecropia  Moth,  10  * 
Celery  Fly,  64 
Cemiostoma  laburnella,  60 ;     C. 

spartifoliella,  61 
Cemonus  unicolor,  104 
Cerambycida,  117 
Ceramius  lusitanicus,  76 
Ceratina,  134 
Ceratina  cyanea,  101 
Cerceris  arenaria,  45  ;  C.  labiata, 

46 

Cefocowa  schcsfferi,  295 
Ceropales,  293 
Chalcid,  283 
Chalicodoma  muraria,   67,   283, 

287 

Charter gus  chartarius,  175 
Chelonia,  276 

China-mark  Moths,  194,  196 
Chloroccelus  tanana,  262 
Chrysis    ignita,    73,    281  ;      C. 

bidentata,  282 
Cicada,   254 ;     C.   septemdecim, 

258  ;   C.  tibicen,  261 
Cicindela  campestris,  55 
Cigale,  257 
Clearwings,  121 
Click  Beetle,  309 
Clock  Beetle,  53 
Clothes  Moths,  183 
"  Clumsy  Tailor,"  192 
Clythra  quadrimaculata,  204  ;   C. 

quadripuncta,  275 
Clytus,  118 
Cockchafer,  54 
Ccelioxys,  288 
CcelonitAS  abbreviates,  86 


Coleophora,  186,  200 ;  C.  rfw- 
cordella,  191  ;  C.  fuscidinella, 
187  ;  C.  juncicolella,  192  ;  C, 
saturatella,  191  ;  C.  siccifolia, 
192 

Colletes,  27,  128  ;  C.  daviesanus, 
288 

Colobopsis,  112 

Compass  Ant,  89 

Coprides,  52 

Crabro  capitosus,  105  ;  C.  c&ry- 
sostomus,  105 ;  C.  clavipes, 
105  ;  C.  dimidiatus,  105  ;  C. 
interruptus,  105,  106  ;  C.  /e«- 
costomus,  105  ;  C.  quadrima- 
culatus,  105  ;  C.  sexmaculatus, 
105 ;  C.  signatus,  105  ;  C.  s/tr- 
picola,  1 06 

Creophilus  vnaxillosus,  237 

Cricket,  House,  262,  271  ;  Field 
C.,  56,  264,  271  ;  Mole  C.,  56, 
271  ;  Wood  C.,  262 

Crioceris  asparagi,  275  ;  C.  wwr- 
digera,  206 

Cryptocephalus,  206 

Cryptocerus  atratus,  in 

Cuckoo-Bees,  291 

Cucujos,  309 

Currant  Clearwing,  122 

Cyphomyrmex,  223 

Cyrtophyllus  concavus,  270 

Dasypoda  kirtipes,  23-5"! 
Death's-head  Hawk  Moth,  275 
"  Death  Watch,"  117 
De  Geer's  Leaf-miner,  59 
Dermestes,    237 ;     P.    lardaritts, 

237  ;   .D.  vulpinus,  238 
Dicranura  vinula,  3,  n 
Dingar,  142 

Dionychopus  nivtus,  276 
Dioxys,  287 
Dolichoderus,  177 
Dolichotoma  palmarum,  206 
Dor  Beetle,  53,  275 
Dorcus  parallelopipedMS,  n6 
Dragon  Moth,  13 

Elaphidion  villosum^  117 
Emperor  Moth,  9 
Epeolus,  293  ; 
Eri-silk,  9 


INDEX 


Eucera  longicornis,  27 
Euchirus  longimanus,  273 
Eumenes,  77-9 ;  E.  arbuslorum, 
77 ;     E.    coarctata,    77 ;      E. 
conica,    78  ;     E.    pomiformis, 
77  ;    E.  unguiculata,  78 

Fenusa  pumila,  64 

Festoon  Moth,  14 

Field  Cricket,  56,  264 

Fire-fly,  311,  312 

Flesh-fly,  84,  246 

Fly  Bug,  208 

Formica  fusca,  294  ;  F.  vufa,  204 

Fulgora,  303 

Gadflies,  41 

Geometers,  4 

Geotrupes  stercorarius,  53,  273  ; 
G.  typhous,  33 

Gipsy  Moth,  14 

Girdler  Beetles,  118 

Glanville  Fritillary,  17 

Glow-worm,  303  ;  Little  Glow- 
worm, 308 

Goat  Moth,  14,  120 

Gold- tail  Moth,  14 

Grayling  Butterfly,  15 

Green  Bottle,  246 

Green-fly  scalps,  208 

Green  Grasshopper,  269 

Green  Silver- lines,  276 

Green  Tortrix,  5 

Gryllotalpa  vulgaris,  56,  271 

Gryllus  domesticus,  262,  271  ;  G. 
campestris,  56,  264,  271 

Hairy-legged  Miner,  23 
Halictus,  25,  291 
Hammock  Moth,  204 
Hanging-gardens  of  Ants,  224 
Harvesting  Ants,  212 
Hemerobius,  207 
Heterogena  asella,  14 
Hister,  237 
Histerida,  119 
Hodotermes  havilandi,  225 
Holly-leaf  Fly,  64 
Homalomyia  canicularis,  244 
Honey  Bees,  139,  140 
Honey-comb    built    from    top 
downwards,  146 


Honey  Wasps,  176 
Hornet,  166,  173 
House  Cricket,  262 
House  Fly,  241,  244 
Humble  Bees,  151-38,  272,  291 
Hybocampa  milhauseri,  13 
Hydrocampa  nympheata,  194 
Hydropsyche,  200 
Hylesinus  fraxini,  115 
Hylophila  prasinana,  276 
Hylotrupes  bajulus,  119 
Hyponotneuta  padella,    15 ;     H. 
cognagella,  15 

Ischnogaster  melleyi,  174 
ItaUan  Fire-fly,  308 

Katydids,  269 

Laburnum  Miner,  60 

Lackey  Moth,  16 

Lagoa  opercularis,  14 

Lamprosoma,  206 

Lampyris    noctiluca,    303 ;     L. 

splendidula,  308 
Lantern  Flies,  303 
Large  Horn- tail,  123,  285 
Larrada  australis,  293 
Lasius    fuliginosus,    108,    177 ; 

L.  niger,  109 

Leaf-cutting  Bees,  28,  131-36 
Leaf  Miners,  58-64 
Leaf-rolling  caterpillars,  4 
Leucospis  gigas,  283 
Lierman,  261 

Light  Orange  Underwing,  122 
Lily  Beetle,  206 
Limacodes  testudo,  14 
Limnophilus    flavicornit,     198 ; 

L.  pellucidus,  198  ;    L.  rhom- 

bicus,  198 

Locusta  viridissima,  269 
Longicorns,  117 
Lucanus  cervus,  116,  274 
Lucilia  casar,  246 
Luciola  italica,  308 
Lunar  Dung  Beetle,  53 
Lunar  Hornet  Clearwing,  122 
Lymexylon  navalg,  1 16 

Malacosoma  neustria,  16 
Maple  Leaf-cutter,  201 


INDEX 


Marsh  Fritillary,  16 
Mason  Bees,  67,  139,  287 
Mason  Wasps,  67,  71-86,  281 
Mathematician     corrected      by 

Bees,  145 
Maybug,  54 

Megachile,  131,  288  ;  M.  albo- 
cincta,  136  ;  M.  argentata,  28, 
135 ;  »•  centuncularis,  84, 
135  I  M.  circumcincta,  135  ; 
M .  lanata,  84  ;  M.  ligneseca, 
I35  ',  M.  versicolor,  135  ;  M. 
willughbiella,  135 


cinxia, 


, 

Melipona,  67,  140 
Melit&a  aurinia,  16  ;  M. 


Mellinus  arvensis,  44  ;  M. 

/osws,  45 
M0/o$,  295 

Melolontha  vulgaris,  54 
Methane  anderssoni,  267 
Microcentrum  retinerve,  270 
Micropterna,  199 
Mimic  Beetles,  237 
Mining  Bees,  21-8,  139 
Mole  Cricket,  56 
Monohammus,  118 
Motuca,  41 
Mud-  daubers,  81,  293 
Afttsca  domestica,  241 
Museum  Beetle,  239 
Mushroom-  growing  Ants,  219 
Musk  Beetle,  118 
Mutilla,  292 

Nacerdes  melanura,  117 

Necrophorus,  233,  275 

Nepticula  anomelella,  59  ;  AT. 
atricapitella,  60  ;  A7.  atrico- 
lella,  60  ;  A7.  betulicolella,  60  ; 
AT.  floslactella,  60  ;  AT.  »'gwo- 
bilella,  60  ;  N.  luteella,  60  ; 
N.  marginicolella,  60  ;  AT. 
microtheriella,  60  ;  A7",  o^ya- 
canthella,  60  ;  A7",  perpygma- 
ella,  60  ;  AT.  splendidissimella, 
60  ;  AT.  tityrella,  60  ;  AT.  t/w- 
cevella,  60 

Oak  Egger,  13 
Oak  Primer,  117 
Oak  Tortrix,  5 


Odynerus  anormis,  75,  108  ;    O. 

conformis,  75,  107  ;    O.  £am- 

^MW,  76,  281  ;  O.  laevipes,  107  ; 

O.    melanocephalus,    107  ;     O. 

reniformis,   74 ;     O.   spinipes, 

71,  282  ;    O.  trifasciatus,  107 
(Ecophila  smaragdina,  6 
Oil  Beetles,  295 
Oncideres,  118 
Orthoptera,  262 
Osmia,    131  ;     O.    leucomelana, 

102,  286  ;    O.  papaveris,  136  ; 

O.  tridentata,  102 

Painted  Lady  Butterfly,  17 
Panurgus,  23,  27 
Paper,  invented  by  wasps,  161 
Papier  mache  made  by  wasps, 

J75 

Parnopes  carnea,  283 
Peacock  Butterfly,  17 
Pelobius  tardus,  275 
PelopcBUs  fistularis,  79 
Pemphredon  lugubris,  104 
Pentatoma,  39 

Perophora  sanguinolenta,  204 
Pheidole  providens,  217 
Phengodes  hieronymi,  308 
Philanthus,  42,  47  ;  P.  apivorus, 

48  ;     P.   triangulum,   48  ;     P. 

punctatus,  48 

Phosphanus  hemipterus,  308 
Photinus  pyralis,  312 
Photurus  pennsylvanicus,  312 
Phyllocnistis  suffusella,  62 
Phyllotoma  aceris,  201 
Phytomyza  ilicis,  64 
Pimpla,  285 
Pissodes,  116 
Platysamia  cecropia,  10 
Pneumora  scutellaris,  267 
Pogonomyrmex    barbatus,    214 ; 

P.  crudelis,  215 
Polistes  gattica,  174 
Polybia  scutellaris,  176 
Polyrhachis,  6,  177 
Pompilus,  29-33,   85,    107  ;    P. 

quinquenotatus,  32 
Porphyraspis  tristis,  207 
Propolis,  150 
Prosopis,  127 
Pseudodoxia  limulus,  193 


INDEX 


317 


Psithyrus,  291 

Psyche,  183 

Puss  Moth,  3,  ii 

Pyrameis  atalanta,  17  ;    P.  car- 

dui,  17 
Pyrophorus  noctiluca,  311 

Railway  Beetle,  309 
Raspberry- leaf  Miner,  64 
Red  Admiral  Butterfly,  17 
Reduvius  personatus,  208 
Rhagium  bifasciatum,   119;    R. 

inquisitor,  119 
Rhyacophylax,  200 
Rhygchium  brunneum,    86 ;     R. 

nitidulum,  86 
Rhyssa  persuasoria,  283 
Rove  Beetles,  237 
Rozites     gongylophora,      fungus 

grown  by  ants,  223 
Ruby- tail  Wasp,  73,  281 

Saccophora,  193 

Sacred  Scarab,  50,  232 

Sand  Wasps,  35-9,  81 

Sapyga,  292 

Sarcophaga  carnaria,  84,  246 

Saturnia  carpini,  9 

Satyrus  semele,  15 

Saw-flies,  123 

Sawfly  Tailor,  201^ 

Scarabaus  sacer,  50 

Sceliphron   lestus,    82,   293 ;     S. 

madraspatanus,  82  ;    5.  spiri- 

fex,  8 1 

"  Scissor- grinder,"  225 
Scolytus     destructor,     113 ;      5. 

pruni,  115  ;   S.  rugulosus,  115 
Sericomyia  borealis,  273 
Sericomyrmex  opacus,  223 
Serictcria,  7 
Sericostoma,  198 
S«sta  tipuliformis,  122 
Sesiida,  121 
Setina,  276 
Setodes,  198 
Seventeen-year  Cicada,  258,  261, 

262 

Sexton  Beetles,  233,  275 
Silk- glands,  7 
Silkworm,  3,  7,  8 
Silpha,  237 


Sinodendron  cylindricum,  116 
Sire*  £t'£as,  123,  285 
Sitaris,  295  ;    5.  humeralis,  298 
"  Six  o'clock  "  Cicada,  225 
Skipjacks,  309 
Skipper  Butterflies,  15 
Small  China- mark,  196 
Small  Tortoiseshell  Butterfly,  17 
Social  Wasps,  162 
Solenopsis  fugax,  294 
Solomon's  injunction,  211 
Soronia  punctatissima,  121 
Sphecius  speciosus,  43 
Sphecodes,  290 
S/)A^,  22,  34,  42 
Spider-hunting  Wasps,  29,  83, 

293 

Squeaker  Beetle,  275 
Stag  Beetle,  116,  274 
Staphylinus,  237 
Stelis  minuta,  286 
Stenobothrus    curtipennis,    267 ; 

S.  melanopleurus,  267 
Synaeca  cyanca,  175 

Tabanus,  41 

Tachytes,  39,  295 

Xanana,  263 

TenthredinidcB,  123 

Termes  angustata,  225 

Termites,  86,  225 

Te#*X  260 

Thliboscelus  camellifolius,  263 

Tiger  Beetle,  55 

Timberman  Beetle,  119 

Tinea  pellionella,  184  ;    T.  t;a*- 

/e«a,  1 86 

Tomicus  typographies,  113,  227 
Tortoise  Beetles,  206 
Tortrix,  4,  5 
Trappers,  200 
Tree  Wasp,  166,  170 
Triangle  Moth,  14 
Trichoptera,  197 
Trochilium  crabroniforntis,  122 
7>o#  sabulosus,  274 
Trypan&us,  120 
Trypanus  cossus,  14,  120 
Trypeta  onopordines,  64 
Trypoxylon    albitarse,    79 ;      T. 

aurifrons,  79 
Tumble-dung  Beetle,  52 


INDEX 


Tussock  Moth,  14 
Tussore- silk,  9 
Typhoid  Fly,  243 

Vanessa  antiopa,  17  ;    V.  io,  17  ; 

V.  urtica,  17 
Vapourer  Moth,  14 
Vespa,   162;     V.  arborea,    166 ; 

F.  austriaca,  166  ;    F.  crabro, 

166,  173  ;    F.  germanica,  166, 

249  ;    F.  norvegica,  166,  172  ; 

F.  rw/a,    166 ;     F.  sylvestris, 

166  ;    F.  vulgaris,  48 
Volucella,   248  ;     F.  bombylans, 

249  ;    F.  pellucens,  249 


Wasp  Beetle,  118 

Wasp,  Austrian,  166  ;  Burrow- 
ing, 39-5°  J  Common,  48  ; 
Mason,  61,  71-86,  281  ;  Sand, 
35-9,  8 1  ;  Spider,  29,  85, 
293  ;  Tree,  166,  170 

Watchman  Beetle,  53 

"  White  Ants,"  86-94,  225 

Wood  Ant,  204 

Wood  Cricket,  262 

Wood  Leopard  Moth,  12 1 

Xylocopa  violacea,  97 

Zeuzera  pyrina,  121 
Zygana,  14 


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RENEWED  BOOKS  ARE  SUBJECT  TO  IMMEDIATE 
RECALL 


APR  2    1970 
FEB  26  REC-D 

,D  LIBRARY 

DUE  MAY  2  3  19/1 

MAY  2  7  REC'D 


LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

Book  Slip-50jn-8,'66(G5530s<l)45i 


182 

Step,  E. 

Insect  artizans  and 
their  work. 


QLU6? 
S8 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


